Mirror, Mirror
by Funkadelict
Summary: The sequel to Reunion! (Re-uploaded in chapters) Ack! Evil Digidestined!
1. The Shattered Mirror-Chapter I

Digimon: Digital Monsters

'Mirror, Mirror'

By 7 of 11

Part One

Takeru Takaishi unfolded the morning newspaper. He glanced at the headlines. Something about a fire in downtown Tokyo, schools were getting packed to the brim with kids, nothing new. Something suddenly caught his eyes. Down at the bottom of the page, was a drawing of an animal. The humanlike figure, dinosaur head, gleaming metallic armor…if Takeru hadn't known any better, he would have said it was WarGreymon.

He looked at the caption below the drawing. 'Artist's rendition of a monster sighted in the Greater Tokyo area, as described by multiple witnesses'. Takeru turned back and walked into his apartment. "Honey, you might want to take a look at the front page of the newspaper," he called to his wife, who was at this moment getting out of the shower. "There's something you might find interesting." He tossed the newspaper onto the kitchen counter.

"I'll be there in a moment, Takeru!" Hikari called. His pretty wife walked out of their bedroom and they kissed. As she turned to where he had left the paper, Takeru went to the door of his daughter's room.

"Kana? Time to get up!" he knocked on her door.

A shout responded from inside the room. "I'll be there in a second, Dad!" 

The phone rang from inside Takeru and Hikari's bedroom, and Takeru strode to pick it up. "I'll get it!" He grabbed the receiver and pushed the answer button. "Hello? Oh, hi Taichi! Sure, one second!" He walked back out of the bedroom, and handed it to Hikari, who was examining the drawing intensely. "It's for you, hon. It's Taichi."

"Taichi? Great!" She took the phone and began talking with her brother. At that moment, the doorbell sounded.

Kana burst past her parents. "I'll see who it is!" Although Takeru couldn't see the alcove where the door was situated from his position, he heard the door open, and then Kana's squeal of delight. "Uncle Taichi!"

Hikari felt her blood run cold at Kana's proclamation. "Taichi?" She whispered, into the phone. "Where are you?" 

"I'm at my house, where else would I be?" her older brother responded. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Because you're over here…" Hikari said "And if you're at your house…who's at the door?"

A shriek from Kana cut through the ensuing silence. "You're not Uncle Taichi!" 

Takeru jumped to his feet in one leap. "Kana!" he shouted. Their daughter came tearing around the corner, followed closely by what seemed to be millions of blood-red energy beams, which scorched the wall past the ten-year-old girl. Smoke shrouded the doorway, but Takeru could see through it. Striding calmly through the haze, Taichi Kamiya was flanked by several robot-like creatures. It wasn't the Taichi that Takeru knew, however. A cape of pure black was draped across his shoulders, and it was clipped at his throat with a frightening brooch-a human skull. His eyes glimmered with malevolent energy.

"Quickly, into the bedroom!" Hikari yelled. The trio dove into the adjoining room, and shut the door behind them. And not a moment too soon, because the wood hissed as lasers struck it behind them. She leaned against the wall, panting in terror. "Is everyone all right?" The rest of her family nodded. 

"How do we get out of here?" Takeru looked around the room.

Kana pointed. "The window."

Hikari looked at her daughter. "Are you crazy? There's a 10 story drop if you fall!"

"And a painful burning death if you stay here!" Kana retorted. "It's the only way."

"Hikari, you and Kana go." Takeru grimaced. "I'll hold them off."

Kana's mouth opened. "What? We can't leave you here! You'll die!"

Takeru shook his head. "It's the only way!" He paused to listen. "Now hurry! They're getting closer! Go, now!" Ignoring their protests, Takeru ushered his family to the window. As soon as Hikari was out on the narrow ledge fringing the building, Takeru slammed the window down and locked it. Not that the lock would do much good, but it might buy the two women a crucial few seconds more. Then, the door leading to the main room of the apartment shattered into splinters, and smoke billowed in.

"Mom…Dad will be okay, won't he?" Kana trembled. 

Hikari held onto her daughter as they traversed the small path like two tightrope walkers. "Yes, he will be." She lied. "He'll be fine." However, soon it wasn't just Kana who was shaking. Then, Hikari's foot slipped. With twin cries of terror, the mother and daughter slipped off the edge.

They had barely enough time to scream, when they suddenly felt strong hands grab them, and they stopped falling, and started rising. "It's okay, I won't hurt either of you." Whispered a voice from Hikari's past. She turned and looked. What she saw made her gasp.

"Angewomon!" The seraph smiled down at the person who had once been her partner.

"That's me." Angewomon flew higher into the sky. "I've missed you. But there's no time to chat, I need to get you two to safety!" As they cleared roof level, Kana and Hikari could see around themselves. The entire world seemed to be burning, growing darker by the second. It was if Evil was visibly permeating their realm. 

Kana looked at the Angel. She didn't know who this was, but she had heard stories about the Digital World. "If you're Angewomon, that means that this has something to do with the DigiWorld, right?" 

Angewomon looked at Kana, then at Hikari. "Your daughter is quite intelligent, Hikari. However, it's not as simple as that. I'll get you to where the others are, and then everything will be explained to you."

But Hikari wasn't listening. Her vision was still affixed to the small window where they had exited. "Takeru…" she sobbed.

What will happen to Takeru? Who are these new enemies? Is Taichi really against the Digidestined? Find out next time!


	2. Chapter II

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror-Part Two

By 7 of 11

Hikari slowly drifted awake. It had all been a dream. Taichi hadn't attacked them, destroyed their home. When she opened her eyes, if she looked around, she would be in bed with her husband, Takeru. And then the unmistakable sensation of flying kicked in.

She turned to see Angewomon smiling wanly down at her. "We're almost there," the seraph whispered. "And then, we'll explain everything. Just a few more minutes."

Hikari looked into the darkness that was surrounding them. Apparently, it was night already. If Angewomon was tired from carrying a 10-year-old girl and a fully-grown woman for the better part of a day, she didn't show it. "I can't believe Taichi would do that."

"He didn't," Angewomon responded. "Trust me, in a few minutes, you will understand. And then, we'll go save Takeru." She didn't say it out loud, but Hikari heard the unspoken 'If he's alive' in her voice.

Hikari could slowly make out the outline of a warehouse through the night. She pointed. "There?" Angewomon nodded. 

Several minutes later, they had landed. With some difficulty, the duo managed to rouse Kana from her slumber, and they approached the doorway. A voice spoke from the shadows. "Who's there?" 

Angewomon held up a gloved hand. "It's just me. I have Kana and Hikari."

Koushiro stepped out into the moonlight. "Kana and Hikari? But what about Takeru? Where's he?"

"He's gone. He stayed behind to give us some time to escape…but I think they got him." Hikari started to sob.

"It's okay, Hikari." Another figure stepped out of the shadows and held her. It was Taichi. "I'm sure we'll find him." When she started to pull away in fright, he looked puzzled, but then an expression of understanding grew on his face. "Ah. Well, come inside, the both of you, and we'll explain everything."

"Our world is merely one of many possible realms," Koushiro's brilliant wife, Mata, explained. "As is evidenced by your travels to the Digital world. However, both of those worlds lie on the same plane of reality. The people who are attacking us, I believe that they are from a parallel dimension, which is exactly the same as ours, only inverted. In this reality, you, the Digidestined, are evil. Instead of bringing peace to the world, and destroying evil, the Alternate-Destined are supposed to spread evil, to conquer their realm."

Angewomon continued from where Mata left off. "However, once they had done that, your counterparts decided that one plane of existence was not enough. They had to conquer all the possible universes. So they gathered their forces and attacked. Knowing that you had the power to defeat them, they naturally attacked you first." The angel shook once with a sob, and then tried to pretend it was nothing. Hikari was confused. Angewomon had been acting like this ever since she had gotten news that Angemon had disappeared about the same time as Takeru had been taken by the Alternate-Destined. Why this troubled her so, Hikari didn't know.

"So what do we do?" Kana asked. 

"Right now, nothing." An unidentified speaker proclaimed from somewhere in the shadows of the warehouse ceiling. Slowly, whoever it was who had spoken floated downwards into the visible light. She looked much like Angewomon, down to the gloves on her hands, yet in one of these white-coated hands she held a platinum staff, with a strange looping circle emblem emblazoned at the top. Also, she wore no faceplate, allowing her strikingly beautiful features to shine through. The young girl—no, it was a Digimon—looked at the group with intense sapphire eyes. "We can't do anything, anyway. Not until the other Digimon get back from where they've been scouting the surrounding area."

Angewomon got to her feet. "I thought I told you to go to sleep with the other children, Aphroditemon."

The younger Digimon looked at the older one in dismay. "Mother, I need to…"

"You don't need to do anything. Now get to bed, you need your rest." Angewomon admonished.

Hikari looked at her own daughter, who was yawning. "And the same to you, Kana. Get to bed, try and rest."

Pouting, Aphroditemon turned and winged her way deep into the darkness. "Follow me, Kana."

After the two of them were gone, all of the adults looked at each other. "This is bad." Jyou said, sitting close to Mimi. "I don't think we've ever encountered anyone as powerful as the Alt-Destined are."

Yamato nodded. "We could always defeat any of our other foes back in the Digital World because we kept on getting stronger. But it won't work with these, because they ARE us."

Two large bangs echoed through the warehouse. "What's that?" Hissed Hikari. 

Taichi leaned closer to his sister. "That's the door. Someone's there."

"I'll go check it out." Jyou volunteered, and he walked off into the shadows.

Sora looked nervous. "I suppose it COULD be the Digimon…but we didn't expect them back so early."

There was a shuffling of feet, and the group spun around to see three children, accompanied by three Digimon, enter the brightness, blinking. "What was that?" Masayoshi, a boy of 9, and Jyou and Mimi's son, asked. "We heard a loud noise!"

His mother went over to him. "Oh, it's nothing, Masa-chan."

Yamato stood up. "Jun!" He called to his precocious son—in fact, Mata, Jyou, and Taichi had a habit of calling him 'Little Koushiro'. "Go back to sleep, you need your rest!"

A Digimon, who looked almost exactly like Gomamon, aside from a greenish tint to his fur, and where Gomamon had had the orange Mohawk, this Digimon possessed a mane of what appeared to be seaweed running down his back. "Do you blame them for not being able to sleep? It's not their fault. Think about what they've seen today!"

Hikari leaned over to Koushiro. "I know Aphroditemon, but who are those other Digimon with Kana, Jun, and Masayoshi?"

Koushiro's fingers flew over his keyboard. "The Gomamon one is called Marshmon. He's Gomamon and Palmon's son, and he's equally at home in both of their environments! And this one," his screen displayed a picture of a little fox, with glossy white fur, and wings sprouting from the small of its back. "Is Sikamon. He's the child of Gabumon and Biyomon. He may not look like much, but his mental powers are formidable!"

Hikari nodded. "Thank you, Koushiro." 

It was at that moment that Joe returned. "It's…Alternate-Yamato…and Alternate-Hikari…"

Taichi got to his feet. "What! Could they have had time to send a message off?" Jyou shook his head. "Then we've got to get them before they can! All you kids, stay here. And if anything goes wrong, run!"

Yamato, Sora, and Hikari all crept along the outer wall of the warehouse, following Taichi. They had sneaked out through a back door, and were splitting up, with Jyou, Koushiro, Mata, and Mimi going around the other side of the warehouse. Hopefully, they would be able to surround the Alternates.

Taichi peeked around the corner of the warehouse, and saw the Alternates, with Alt-Gabumon and Alt-Gatomon, standing at the solid steel door, looking slightly miffed. Both of the Alternate-Destined had wicked-looking swords hanging at their belts, and Alt-Yamato was armed even more than that, with a steel javelin strapped to his back. Hikari was behind him, and she looked also. "This is so weird, like looking into a living mirror…" she breathed.

"Yeah," Yamato agreed. "I'd never thought I'd live to see two of us. Two of anyone, as a matter of fact."

It was then that Taichi caught Jyou's eye from the other side of the warehouse, and they walked out, trying not to make a sound. "Put down your Digivices and Crests, and raise your hands over your head." 

Startled, the Alternate-Destined and Digimon jumped, but they did as they were told. Koushiro approached them warily. "What are you doing here? Were you sent to attack us?" he interrogated.

Alt-Yamato shook his head. "No! We're here because we want to join up with you!"

Sora looked at them. "And why do you expect us to believe that story?"

Alt-Hikari took a deep breath. "There is no reason that we can prove that we are telling the truth. However, there is a reason why we want to join you. You see, our Taichi, like yours, is also the leader with us. But he uses fear, force, and pain, to keep everyone in line." She turned, causing everyone to tense, but she did not act, instead she displayed a horrific sword scar underneath her arm. "We want to be free. So, we decided the best way to be free and the best way to get revenge on our Taichi is to join up with you guys."

Taichi shook his head. "I still don't believe you."

"Here's a proof." Alt-Gabumon reached under his fur coat and removed three pendants. They were tags and Crests. The first one had a looping circle—exactly the same as the markings on Aphroditemon's staff! The second was engraved with an asterisk inside a square, and the final one was two six-pointed stars overlaid upon each other. "These are the Crests of Mind, Faith, and Spirit. These are for the three newest Digidestined."

All of the adults looked at each other in disbelief. "You mean…our children? Jun, Masayoshi, and Kana?" Mimi burst out. "But, who are their Digimon?"

It was Alt-Gatomon's turn to speak, now. "The Digimon are the progeny of the protectors of the Digidestineds' parents."

Taichi thought. "Very well, you can come inside. But if you try anything…" he walked over to them and disarmed them, as well as retrieving their Digivice and Crest.

Alt-Hikari nodded. "We know."

The next morning, everyone—including the Digimon, who had been breifed on the situation later the previous night—was maintaining an uneasy peace with the Alternates, who at this moment were presenting a battle plan. "When we first arrived," Alt-Gatomon spoke, and as she did, holographic images appeared illustrating her speech. "We took over the airport, and now it functions as our main command center. The major building in the complex, the terminal, is what we are using for a headquarters. The hangars have been converted into barracks for the slaves that we gather."

Kana looked at the cat. "What did you do with my Dad?"

Alt-Hikari stood up. "We don't know. Taichi said he had something planned, and he wanted to take your family himself. We aren't privy to our leader's private schemes. Probably, though, he's being held as a slave at the airport, so if we beat them there, we can free Takeru."

"So then what are we waiting for? Let's go! We'll free all of the slaves!" Aphroditemon literally bounded off the floor into the air.

She was shortly followed by her mother, who pushed her back down again. "WE are not going to do anything. You, and the other children, will stay out of any fighting, and will not go on the rescue mission." She silenced the protests from everyone else before they even had a chance to occur. "No buts! Now lets go!"

Alt-Yamato looked at Taichi. "If we are going to help you, we need our equipment."

Taichi waved it off. "You will get what you need when we get there, IF your information is accurate. Let's move out, people!"

In a darkened room, a lone figure stood watching over thousands of slaves do useless busywork, designed more to break their spirits than to get anything material done. After a long time, Alt-Taichi spoke. "Jyou. Sora."

There was a flicker of movement, and two people stepped into the light cast by the windows. Alt-Jyou knelt at his master's feet, Alt-Sora at his side. "What do you wish, master?"

Alt-Taichi thought. "If our two agents have done as they said they would, and infiltrated the Digidestined, then this will indeed be a glorious day. You two," he snapped. "Set up along Runway 041…prepare for an ambush! You two are dismissed."

The duo nodded, stood up, bowed again, and exited without saying a word. "And you…" he began, and the lone remaining figure in the room moved into the light. 

This shrouded man was indeed a horrid sight. An ebony cloak covered his shoulders, and he wore spiked armguards and gauntlets. A horned helmet covered his face, and his voice sounded thick, distorted, through the speakers. "What is thy bidding?"

"After Jyou, Sora, Yamato, and Hikari defeat the Digidestined, bring them to me. I have…plans…for them." Alt-Taichi smirked.

"It shall be done." The man rumbled.

"Oh, it had better be, Shade. You are my best commando, I would hate to lose you on such an…EASY…task. So don't mess up."

To Be Continued…


	3. Chapter III

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part Three

By 7 of 11

Jun Ishida looked at the closed door of the warehouse. "This isn't fair…why won't our parents let us come with them when they go to rescue Uncle Takeru?" He toed the floor anxiously.

His cousin, Kana Takaishi, closed her eyes. "Takeru's my Dad, and they still wouldn't let ME go…and they even forbade the Digimon kids to accompany them, even though they can fight…you can fight, can't you?" 

Marshmon nodded. "Yeah! Not as well as our parents can, of course, but well enough. After all, we're only Rookies."

A glimmer of light heralded Aphroditemon's arrival. "Speak for yourself! I'm a Champion stage!" she boasted. "And, I have an idea about what to do while our parents are on the rescue mission."

Kana leaned back. "Shoot. I'm ready to try anything…" 

"Simple." Aphroditemon flashed a dazzling grin. "We go anyway."

"What?" The normally quiet Sikamon squeaked. "But we can't! We aren't even strong enough…and besides that, we're too young!"

However, Masayoshi Kido, the third human, started to nod slowly. "But that's what THEY said…not us. Personally, I think that we're strong enough to go."

"But also…you guys," Sikamon pointed to the kids. "Don't have Digimon!" He knew, however, that he was fighting a losing battle.

Aphroditemon flew up into the air, and twirled around several times. "Wrong again! I heard some of the parents talking about how they were the 'New Digidestined'…and guess who their Digimon are?" Kana felt she knew the answer already. "Us! Also, I managed to get these," Aphroditemon held up a trio of pendants. "Your crests!" She floated to the ground, and laid the crests down.

"How do we know which is which? And who belongs with who?" Jun asked, puzzled-a rare occurrence. 

Kana shrugged. "I suppose that we could just close our eyes and pick randomly, if we are destined to have them, then I guess we would receive the tag and Crest that's ours." 

"Sounds good to me!" Marshmon bounded over to the Crests. "On three, ready? One, two, three!" 

Kana closed her eyes and reached her hand forwards. It closed around the metal of a Crest, and she opened her eyes. The pendant in her hand was the one with a looping circular inscription. And clutching it as well was…Aphroditemon smiled. "Looks like we're together." They looked to the side, and saw the other pairings. Jun and Sikamon, as well as Masayoshi and Marshmon. "So now that that's settled, let's go!" Kana and her new partner, Aphroditemon, walked towards the door.

Alt-Yamato crawled his way up to a chain link fence, the other Digidestined close behind. "This is the place," he whispered. "Down this runway are the slave barracks. Takeru should be there."

"Are you sure about this?" Jyou asked. "The runway looks kind of…open…to me. We'll be spotted in no time!"

"Nope," Alt-Hikari shook her head. "This is the only runway that isn't monitored. With the others, yes, that would be true, but this one is completely safe. Now we've done our part…" she held out her hand to Taichi.

Taichi stood up. "Oh yes, that's right! Here…" he handed Alt-Yamato his spear, sword, Digivice, and Crest, while Sora returned Alt-Hikari her gear.

Alt-Yamato raised the hefty sword above his head, and brought it down in a clean slice to the fence, which split in half. One by one, the group picked its way through the rent metal. 

Once they were all on the other side, they cautiously started down the runway, as not to be spotted by anything, despite the reassurances of the Alternates. Suddenly, a battle cry pierced the stillness. "Vulture's Blast!" A gigantic beam of power cut through the forest to the side and knocked the Digidestined into the air. There was a squawk as a huge vulture flew from the treetops. And riding the Digimon…was Alt-Sora.

An equally familiar figure stepped out of the foliage on the opposite flank of the group—Alt-Jyou. He sneered. "My turn now! ArmorZudomon, let's go!" 

A bellow echoed Vulturemon's screeching, and a giant walrus, clad totally in steel armor, and clutching a sledgehammer, stepped into the playing field. "MEGATON POUND!" ArmorZudomon shouted. He brought the hammer down, and the resulting earthquake knocked everyone off their feet.

Koushiro climbed to his feet. "Two can play at this game! MegaKabuterimon, show them what you've got!" 

The beetle-like creature nodded. "Right! HORN BUSTER!" The shock struck ArmorZudomon's head directly, yet failed to penetrate.

"What?" Koushiro's mouth dropped open. "That can't be possible! It's just not logical!"

Alt-Hikari shook her head slowly. "It won't work. Both of them are Mega Digimon, and since they're from our world, they're dark, and therefore more powerful…let me and Yamato handle them!"

"Gatomon warp digivolve to…DEVIWOMON!" The cat was enveloped in a burst of light. When it cleared, an angel was in her spot. However, it was not Angewomon. Instead, the plumage on her wings was obsidian black, as was most of her body. Red eyes peeked through the slits on her visor.

"Gabumon warp digivolve to…IRONGARURUMON!" This Alternate version of MetalGarurumon was almost a perfect mirror image, aside from several small details. First of all, where MetalGarurumon had gleaming white and bluish armor, IronGarurumon possessed a dull bronze coating, yet which looked incredibly strong and impenetrable. In addition, the blades at the tips of MetalGarurumon's wings had been transformed to circular buzz-saw blades.

Alt-Yamato pumped his fist as IronGarurumon and Deviwomon took to the sky after the other two Alternate Digimon. "Yeah, you can do it!" He grinned.

"Darkness!" Deviwomon spun around, and a cloud the color of her wings coalesced from nothingness. It surrounded Vulturemon, blinding her.

IronGarurumon winged past the incapacitated Vulturemon. "Buzz Blade!" The twin saw blades mounted on his wings detatched, and sped through the air at amazing speed. They entered the smokescreen, and a cry of pain was heard. 

The cry quickly turned into a yell, however. "Vulture's Blast!" The gigantic beam appeared out of the midst of the fog, and struck Deviwomon solidly. She fell to the ground.

"Deviwomon!" Alt-Hikari cried. "This isn't working…we need more Digimon!" She suddenly turned to her real-world counterpart. "Hikari…give me your Crest and Digivice! Maybe I can make Angewomon digivolve to Deviwomon, and we can have more Digimon able to fight!" She held out her hand.

Hikari looked at her Alternate. "Well…" she began.

"There's no time! Look, our Digimon are getting trounced!" She pointed, and Hikari saw how ArmorZudomon was thrashing IronGarurumon with his Megaton Pound.

"Okay....I guess…" Hikari handed her Digivice and Crest to Alt-Hikari, who clutched them tightly. 

"Angewomon digivolve to…DEVIWOMON!" 

All of a sudden, Alt-Hikari threw her head back and laughed. "Fools! You believed us; that we were on your side! Now prepare to pay the price! Deviwomons, it's time to show them how we can really play!"

The twin Dark Angels stood side-by-side, facing the Digidestined, who were stunned at this turn of events. They spoke as one. "Dark Storm!" There was a blinding flash of light, and then everything went dark. 

When Hikari's vision finally cleared, she was on the ground—as were the other Digidestined. Alt-Hikari was standing over her, sword raised in the air triumphantly. "Victory!" she hissed.

In the air above, the Deviwomons watched Alt-Hikari prepare to execute her other self impassively. Without warning, a bronze blur smashed into their backs, sending them hurtling back down to the earth. IronGarurumon howled triumphantly.

"What?" Alt-Hikari's voice was tinged with disbelief as she saw her Digimon crash to the ground. Then a powerful force tackled her from behind, and she went sprawling. Using the momentum from the attack, she managed to roll to her feet. She saw her attacker—and gasped. 

Alt-Yamato held his sword at the ready, fire blazing in his eyes. 

"You traitor!" she snarled from her position crouching. "I should never have trusted you! Taichi will execute you in public humiliation!"

Alt-Yamato shook his head. "No, he won't. Because he won't find out what happened here. You will die. And I won't ever go back to him. Our reasons for joining may have been a ruse at that time, but as for me, I genuinely felt that way. And now that I see how things work here, on the other side, I know that this is the right way. There is no reign of terror here, people follow Taichi because he is nice, not because of fear of execution. So you can tell Taichi—when you see him in Hell—that I quit." He lifted the saber into a fencing position.

Alt-Hikari got her own sword at the ready. "I think you've got it all wrong…I won't be the one to die today, at least!"

And then the two charged, swords held high.

To Be Continued….

What will happen? Who will win the duel? Find out in Mirror, Mirror—Part Four!


	4. Chapter IV

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part Four

By 7 of 11

Alt-Yamato tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword he held in his hand, sweat trickling down his face. He glared at his opponent, who was standing roughly fifteen feet away from him, venom in her eyes. Once again shifting his hold, Alt-Yamato charged.

Gleaming steel sparked against gleaming steel as Alt-Hikari met his charge without flinching. She retaliated by slashing downward at Alt-Yamato's skull. He barely got his saber up in time, knocking her blade away a scant few inches from his face. Alt-Yamato jabbed the point of his sword at her, but she parried the blow easily.

As the two brought their swords together again, a flicker of motion caught Alt-Yamato's eye. He turned to see Alt-Sora and Alt-Jyou sprinting down the runway back to the main complex of the airport, presumably to summon reinforcements for Alt-Hikari. If that happened, both he and the Digidestined were toast. "IronGarurumon!" He cried. "Stop them, now!" 

This moment of broken concentration proved nearly fatal for him, however, as metal flashed in front of his nose, coming down to slice into his upper bicep. Alt-Yamato could feel the muscle part under the blade, and jerked his arm away, blood pooling out onto the skin. He winced, although the gash was hardly mortal in itself, the pain was intense—and that could cost him.

"You got it, Yamato!" The bronze warrior leapt into the air, and began a looping path to attack the retreating duo.

Alt-Sora's partner, Vulturemon, moved to intercept him. "Vulture's Blast!" The jet of energy spat out at IronGarurumon. The targeted Digimon increased his speed, dashing behind a dilapidated, two-story structure just in time. Vulturemon's attack blasted the building apart, sowing debris over the surrounding area. 

IronGarurumon skillfully dodged the stone rain with the natural reflexes of a honed warrior. In one fluid movement, he rotated vertically 180 degrees, using the momentum like a slingshot. "Buzz Blade!" The circular saw blade attached to the end of his tail hurtled towards the escaping two.

Alt-Jyou gasped for breath as he ran besides Alt-Sora, trying to get away from the Digidestined. Something had gone seriously wrong, it appeared, and now Alt-Yamato was on the side of the Digidestined. Oh well, Alt-Taichi would destroy him later. Right now, the main concern was getting away.

There was a whistling of an object flying through the air at an incredible velocity, and then Alt-Sora screeched to his side. The whistling turned into a horrifying scrape of metal cutting through flesh and bone. A silver and red blur bounced off of the pavement in front of him, and looped into the air, missing Alt-Jyou's arm by bare centimeters.

Vulturemon squawked and fell to the ground in front of him, lifeless. Sparkles circled her body, and she dissolved into nothingness. Alt-Jyou knew this wasn't good. He turned, but he already expected what he would see. Alt-Sora was lying on the grass to the side of the runway—no, wait, that wasn't correct, _half_ of her was there. The other half was sprawled out on the hard cement, a growing lake of red staining it permanently. She had been completely bisected by IronGarurumon's Buzz Blade attack.

He fell to his knees, retching. His rational mind took over after a short while. Wait a minute…where was IronGarurumon? Alt-Jyou looked all around, but saw no sign of the Mega Digimon. A shout came from above him. "Garuru Slam!" 

Alt-Jyou looked upwards to see the bronzed IronGarurumon flying down at him. Actually, it was more like falling…"Oh, SHIT!" Were Alt-Jyou's last words before the multi-ton Digimon crushed him.

Alt-Yamato raised his hand to protect himself from the debris flung into the sky by Vulturemon's attack. He blinked, in order to remove the dust that was accumulating in his eyes. Despite the pain in his arm, which was still trickling with crimson liquid, he smirked as he saw Alt-Hikari under the same assault from the sky. Her guard was down, this was his chance.

He swung a powerful slice to her side. Alt-Hikari noticed it coming in the nick of time, and stumbled backward to dodge it. She wasn't quick enough, however, and the blade tore through the fabric of her shirt around her stomach, and Alt-Yamato gratifyingly saw a line of red appears where he had slashed. 

Alt-Yamato put down his sword and leapt at her, shoulder forward. He connected solidly with her, and being already off-balance, Alt-Hikari went sprawling across the rocks lining the ground. He caught a flash of metal as her sword went flying to the wreckage of the building Vulturemon had demolished. 

Triumphantly, he walked to his downed opponent, saber ready to kill. His confidence brought about his downfall, however. He was raising his sword up high when he felt his legs kicked out from under him. Alt-Yamato crashed into the pavement, pain jolting through his arm. When the red finally vanished from his vision, he had time to glimpse Alt-Hikari ducking into the corpse of the abandoned structure. 

Cursing his pride, Alt-Yamato cautiously crept to the building. Where was Alt-Hikari? Something clanked underfoot—he looked down to see her lost sword. Despite what he had just told himself about being too confident, Alt-Yamato smiled. Alt-Hikari couldn't kill him without her sword.

The clatter of rocks falling was his only warning. He turned his face to look above him, and a blur collided with his chest, sending Alt-Yamato flying. The gravel on the ground tore up his skin, and he felt the sticky wetness beginning to spread. He pushed himself to his feet, and saw Alt-Hikari recover her blade, grinning sadistically.

Alt-Yamato's heart pounded in his chest. "Not bad," he said dryly, trying to buy time to come up with a plan.

"Oh, I agree with you!" Alt-Hikari flipped her sword from one hand to another. "The thrill of the game is always best when playing against an opponent who is as skilled as you are. But, now, I think the game is over, Yamato." She moved in for the kill, slashing upwards to Alt-Yamato's stomach viciously. His sword clashed against hers as he parried the slice.

The blond-haired man threw a quick glance at the Digidestined. They were down completely, he couldn't expect any help from them. Although he had to give them SOME credit, it wasn't often easy to withstand an attack from two Mega Digimon. And what about IronGarurumon? Alt-Yamato looked into the sky, where his partner was managing to dodge shots from the twin Deviwomons—but his luck had to run out soon.

Alt-Yamato thought. IronGarurumon couldn't help him, being too busy trying to survive, and he couldn't help IronGarurumon, since they were in the air—but he could even the odds. 

Steel flashed narrowly over his head as Alt-Yamato rolled behind Alt-Hikari. Coming up from the crouch, he spun around. His blade caught the chain on which Alt-Hikari had attached her Alternate's Crest and Digivice, and it snapped. The two items necessary to controlling a Digimon flew into the air. "No!!" Alt-Hikari cried as Alt-Yamato continued the spin, in one fluid motion both snatching them from the sky and tossing them back to Hikari. In the sky above, one of the Deviwomons moaned and sank to the ground, becoming Angewomon once more. 

With renewed strength, Alt-Yamato went to the attack. Sword met sword repeatedly as he drove Alt-Hikari to the ruined wall she had leaped off of previously. As their blades clashed again, both of them trying to overpower the other, the duo glared at each other, intense hatred putting new meaning to the phrase, 'If looks could kill'. While Alt-Yamato might have had the advantage in strength before, with his injured arm it was a fair match. 

Alt-Yamato's lips tightened in a weary smile as he saw the absolute horror on Alt-Hikari's face when she realized she was backing into a wall. He brought his sword down in a slice designed to end the battle right there. However, his weapon rebounded straight out of his hands as it struck something hard and unyielding, instead of cutting straight through Alt-Hikari's flesh. Too late did Alt-Yamato realize that instead of him leading her, she had led him. She had dodged out of the way, leading his sword to hit the wall. Alt-Yamato's world suddenly spun as something collided with his face.

When the airport stopped spinning around his head, Alt-Yamato felt something very sharp and cold pressed under his chin. He was flat on his back, and Alt-Hikari had him pinned with her saber. He saw blood on her sword hilt—his blood. She had rammed the hilt of her sword into his head. 

"Like I said, it's time for the game to end." Alt-Hikari pressed harder, and Alt-Yamato felt his skin beginning to part under the blade's pressure. Blood started to mingle with the sweat trickling down his neck.

Alt-Yamato, ever so slowly, as to not draw attention, moved his hand to the spear strapped to his back. If he could get it, then maybe he stood a chance…It was apparently not to be, however, as Alt-Hikari increased the pressure. "Don't even try to fool me, Yamato," She chided, as if speaking to a child. "I can see every move you make."

"Is that a fact?" Alt-Yamato choked. "Well, I guess you missed something." Alt-Hikari suddenly screeched and dropped her sword as a dagger imbedded itself in her chest. Alt-Yamato had used the spear as a diversion while going for his concealed weapon.

In one motion, Alt-Yamato was on his feet. He grabbed the steel shaft from his back, and smiled devishly at Alt-Hikari, before plunging it through her sternum. Her scream turned to a gurgle as she stumbled against the wall, hands wrapped around the javelin, trying to remove it from its spot buried in her chest. The black spear wouldn't budge, no matter how much she tried with her quickly ebbing strength. As she sank to the ground, it became clear this battle had been won.

Alt-Yamato walked to his impaled foe, stopping only to retrieve his sword, and knelt by her side. "Yes, it is time for the game to end now." 

She looked at him with pain and terror in her eyes. "Bastard…" Alt-Hikari hissed, regaining just enough of her old fire back for that one word. She coughed up blood.

Alt-Yamato nodded. "I'll remember you said that." With those words, he drove his sword into her stomach. Ignoring the warm, slimy, wetness that poured from the gaping wound, he cut upwards and across, disemboweling her totally. Alt-Hikari gave one final wheeze, and then, with a death rattle, she died. 

Alt-Yamato brought his hand and sword back out of her intestines, looking like he had just dunked them in a vat of red paint. There was a crunch of gravel suddenly, and he turned to see Hikari standing there weakly. "What happened?" she asked, and then she saw her dead Alternate. "Oh, my God!" She fell to her knees and vomited.

"She deserved it…" Alt-Yamato managed to say, but his strength was almost gone as well.

As the rest of the Digidestined approached, a voice spoke from behind them. "Ah, trying to rationalize your cold-blooded murder, how pathetic!" Everyone spun around to see a man, shrouded entirely in spiked black armor, approach. "Permit me to introduce myself. I am Shade, and you all are now my prisoners."

"Just try it…" WarGreymon challenged. 

Shade nodded. "Very well, I will!" He raised his hands, and Hikari knew something was going to happen, something bad. Yet why did Shade seem so familiar to her? It was almost as if she knew him…then everything went black.

From a point on the outskirts of the airport field, Masayoshi looked through binoculars at the group. "Who's that?"

"Who's what?" Jun asked. 

"Him, the guy in the spikes!" Masayoshi handed the binoculars to Jun.

Sikamon shifted nervously. "Whoever he is, he's probably not good!"

Jun gulped. "I'd say that's an excellent assumption…he just attacked everyone, and they're now knocked out! All at once, too…"

"What?" Aphroditemon took the binoculars and gazed out upon the scene. "He's bringing them all away…without even touching them! I think he's taking them prisoner!"

"Which means…" Marshmon began.

Kana was quick to pick up. "…That it's all…up to us!" 

Can the kids save the Digidestined from certain doom at the hands of the evil Alt-Destined? And who is the mysterious Shade? Why is he so familiar to Hikari? 


	5. Chapter V

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part V

By 7 of 11

Kana crouched behind a luggage cart that had tipped over on its side and looked at the huge crowd of slaves working scarcely thirty feet away. "Are you SURE this is going to work?" she asked for the second time, pulling the oversized cap she wore down to further conceal her face.

Also for the second time, Marshmon poked his head from the large duffel bag that he and Sikamon were concealed in. "Yes! I'm positive! Trust me on this one, okay? Those guards are Robomon! They're great guards and shock troops—they are what accompanied Taichi when he attacked your apartment." Kana visibly flinched. "But they aren't exactly the smartest Digimon around."

"I sure hope so." Aphroditemon grumbled. "This outfit is killing my wings! I don't know how you humans can do this!" She was wearing a loose sweatshirt to hide her angel's wings, but if it were needed, she could break free in a matter of seconds. 

Jun silenced them all. "Be quiet! It's almost time for the shift change!" Everyone fell quiet. 

A whistle blast pierced through the grunts of the slaves and the sound of metal scraping against pavement. "All right, everyone inside!" The lead Robomon bellowed. As the throng put down their tools and shuffled inside, no one noticed the quartet, Masayoshi carrying the duffel bag, slip into the group.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, until they were through the guard checkpoint. Not wasting a second, they split from the slaves going back to their quarters and ducked behind another abandoned luggage cart. "Did we make it?" Masayoshi squeaked.

Sikamon struggled his way free of the bag. "Well there haven't been any alarms set off, so I guess they didn't notice us!" 

Aphroditemon, still crouched, began crawling to the main building in the airport complex. "This is their HQ. Our parents would be in here…come on!"

High above, Alt-Taichi stroked the skull brooch that held his cape together, watching the children pick their way across the asphalt of the airfield. "Do you want us to go get them, sir?" A Robomon asked.

Alt-Taichi shook his head. "No, let them come. I have something special planned for them…"

"There's the main entrance!" Jun said. "Doesn't look like there are any guards…that's odd…" 

Sikamon shook his head. "I have a bad feeling about this, you guys!"

"Oh come on, Sikamon! You have a bad feeling about everything!" Aphroditemon let down her shirt's hood, and shook her head, allowing her long blond hair to come free.

Making her way around the cars that had been abandoned when the Alt-Destined had invaded, Kana looked around. "Okay, the coast looks like its clear, guys!"

Without warning, a gruff voice shouted, "TETRA SHOCKER!" Artificial lightning flashed, and a huge explosion lit the sky, throwing everyone to the ground. When the smoke cleared, there was a gigantic beetle-like creature hovering in the air. It gnashed its mouthpieces together wickedly. And standing on its back…was Alt-Koushiro. 

Aphroditemon ripped free of the tattered fabric, and stretched her wings. She leapt into the air. Her staff shone a bright red, and she looked at the creature. "Hello, Scarabmon. I never thought I'd see you in this world. Tentomon was much too nice to ever Digivolve into you…LOVE TAP!" She brought her rod down, striking Scarabmon's shoulder, yet the attack barely fazed him. 

As Aphroditemon brought her staff back again, a shout cut her off. "No! Let me handle him!" To her surprise, it was the small, meek, Sikamon who had yelled. "You guys should go on, find your parents! That might be our only hope to defeat these guys!"

"I'm staying with you then, Sikamon," Jun smiled weakly. "After all, we're partners. NOW GO!" He turned and shouted at the others.

"Good luck, you guys!" Masayoshi cried back, as Aphroditemon shattered the glass pane door and they entered. 

Jun put his hand on his little Digimon's shoulder. "Come on, Sikamon! We can do this!"

When Alt-Koushiro and Scarabmon saw who was opposing them, they started rolling in laughter. "That little, puny, ROOKIE stage is going to fight us?" Scarabmon gasped for air. "Oh, that's priceless!"

Sikamon grew red. "Shut up!" He said, indignantly. "I bet I can beat you! Psychic Shock!" A bolt of blue energy tore through the air and smacked right into Scarabmon's armored carapace, doing nothing whatsoever.

Alt-Koushiro shrugged. "Fine, if that's how you want to play. Get him, Scarabmon!" 

"Tetra Shocker!" The beetle's attack narrowly missed the small fox, which sped out of the way just in time.

"Yeah, Sikamon! That's how we can beat him! Keep on moving and he won't be able to hit you!" Jun encouraged.

Sikamon hurled another Psychic Shock at Scarabmon, and again it did no damage. "Yes, but my attacks can't hurt him either! It looks like stalemate!"

Alt-Koushiro threw his hand into the air. "You mean Checkmate! Scarabmon!"

A thunderous war cry shattered Jun's eardrums as Scarabmon tackled Sikamon, sending the tiny Rookie skidding. "No! Sikamon!"

Masayoshi, Marshmon, and Kana ran down the deserted airport hallways, Aphroditemon flying overhead. "Which way is it?" Panted the seal, trying to keep up. 

The angel Digimon pointed her staff down a junction. "They converted the security offices into a full scale prison, the adults should be there." She opened a door, and the following room they stepped in to was definitely not part of the original building plan.

It was a circular chamber, almost pitch dark. In the center however, a pedestal was raised up above the floor, bathed in the glow of light from a blaring spotlight. And lying on that platform was a very familiar figure, draped in a pink shroud. "Mom!" Masayoshi cried, running up to Mimi's comatose form. "Are you okay?"

She stirred, and opened her eyes slowly. "Masayoshi…" she smiled. "Oh, thank goodness you're here." 

Marshmon bounded over to the two. "What happened? Where's Lillymon?!" 

With this, Kana sensed a dark shape moving somewhere beyond the shine of light. And then she knew, with a dreadful finality, what was going on. "Masa, no! That's not Mimi!"

As she was saying this, another voice answered Marshmon's question. "Right here!" The lights flashed on, and a flower—or was it a woman?—floated down from the ceiling. Everything about her was a dark black, and she possessed long fingernails that reached fully six inches. "Only the name is BlackRosemon now!" Alt-Mimi laughed in delight.

BlackRosemon looked at Kana and Aphroditemon. "Petal Blast!" She held her hands together, and the flower there unfolded, much like her alter ego's Flower Cannon attack. But there the similarity ended. Several flower petals, each a midnight black in color, and shaped like stars, sliced through the air, erupting in a shower of smoke and energy when they collided with the ground. The two were thrown back into the hallway, and the door slammed shut.

"No! Masayoshi! Marshmon!" Aphroditemon hammered on the door, but it wouldn't budge. "The Alt-Destined are splitting us up, making us easier to defeat!"

"Oh, I would agree with thy assumption, angel. However, thou shouldst not be worrying about the fate of thy friends. Instead, thou shouldst be worrying about thy own fate." A cold, resounding hiss sounded from behind them. 

Kana turned, and ice water replaced the blood flowing through her veins. Standing there was the same man who had attacked the Digidestined, and subsequently defeated them without laying a hand on them. Up close he was even more terrifying, spikes covering his entire body. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shade. But that shouldst not be thy concern, child. Instead, thou should see to it that thou do not suffer the same fate as thy friends shortly will."

This touched a nerve, and Aphroditemon swung her staff forwards. "Love Tap!" Before she could get a shot off, however, a blur knocked her off balance, and her attack went wide. 

The two crashed into a wall, and Kana caught a glimpse of Aphroditemon's opponent. He looked curiously like her, an angel, to be sure. But he wore a mask like Angewomon, and his staff was a dark obsidian instead of pure silver. Also, instead of fluffy, feathered, angel wings, he possessed those of a bat. "Meet DarkAngemon!" Shade crowed. "And thy doom!"

Kana could take no more. She charged, knocking into Shade with her shoulder forward. Although he was at least half again as big as she was, the adrenaline coursing through her body, combined with the force she had gathered, knocked him down. His helmet bounced off, and clattered down the hallway, the sound resonating throughout what seemed to be the entire airport.

"Get off, insolent child!" A gauntleted hand smashed into her chest, and she was thrown back, the spikes having cut through her skin. 

As Kana fought the pain and opened her eyes, she saw Shade—without his helmet on. And she knew who he was. She gasped, and managed to stutter out one word. "D…Daddy?"

To be continued…


	6. Chapter VI

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part VI

By 7 of 11

Cradling his fallen partner in his arms, Jun stared up at the behemoth Scarabmon and his partner, the evil Alt-Koushiro. "Are you okay, Sikamon?" He whispered. Sikamon had been hit by the Mega's attack, and severely beaten.

Weakly, the fox like Digimon nodded. "I'm fine, Jun." Suddenly, he gasped.

"What? What is it?" Jun asked, concerned.

Sikamon started to glow. "Jun! I can feel your power…I'm getting stronger! This is amazing!"

Jun covered his eyes, as Sikamon's radiance grew too brilliant to look at. Could Sikamon be…what was it his parents called it? Digivolving? Was it possible?

"SIKAMON DIGVOLVE TO…PSIMON!" Now, where Sikamon had been, a larger Digimon was. He looked somewhat like a werewolf; he was still clearly a dog-like animal, but it stood on his hind legs as if human. An unearthly glow surrounded him, and his eyes shone blue. 

"Cool!" Was all that the normally eloquent Jun could say. However, this was beyond cool. This was amazing! 

Psimon climbed to his feet and confronted Scarabmon, who snickered. "Oh, this is better, but still! Even a Champion can't stop a Digimon of my power!"

"It appears that someone has a bit of an ego problem," Psimon growled. "But that can be corrected…Psychic Bomb!" Energy crackled as he lifted his hands above his head, eyes closed. Blue sparks flashed from fingertip to fingertip as he gathered his power. Slowly, a sphere of power started to coalesce in the palm of his hand. It swelled, going from the size of a golf ball, to a tennis ball, yet it still grew. Now it was about the size of a tire; the size of a boulder. Then, Psimon leapt into the air and hurled the ball at Scarabmon. 

A thunderclap rocked the area as the bomb collided with the gigantic beetle. Waves of azure psi power picked Jun up and threw him into the air. But then a large, yet gentle hand grasped him, and pulled him down to earth safely. It was Psimon. 

When the light had cleared, the aftermath of the Psychic Bomb was apparent. The cars that had littered the airport terminal previously had been vaporized, melted metal signaling where they had been. But Scarabmon was barely hurt at all! He had retreated into his large, protective, shell casing. Even now he was coming out. "Nice try but not good enough! TETRA SHOCKER!" 

As the discharge shot past the two, narrowly missing them, Jun felt the hairs on his arm stand on end. His brain started whirring like a computer. That attack had been an electric one…maybe…yes! 

"TETRA SHOCKER!" This one didn't miss. Psimon fell to the ground, chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Psimon!" Jun shouted, worried. He needed more time…and then he saw the hose, wrapped neatly up by the spigot it was attached to. Water conducted electricity…

Jun picked up the fire hose. "Hey, ugly!" he bellowed. "Yeah, I'm talking to you!"

The beetle stood over him. "Who are you calling ugly? I think you'll pay for that! TETRA…"

Jun smiled. "Nope, I won't be the one who is going to pay!" He turned the hose on full blast. The jet of water shot over Scarabmon, drenching him, and throwing him backwards.

Weakly, Psimon started to get up. Why did he suddenly feel more powerful? This was odd…

Alt-Koushiro cursed from his spot on Scarabmon's carapace. "Nice try, but it didn't work! Scarabmon, let's finish him off for once and for all!"

"Right! TETRA SHOCKER!" However, instead of frying Jun, the electric ray backfired, showering power all over Scarabmon and Alt-Koushiro, who fell off, electricity sparking from his mouth. 

At that precise moment, Jun felt his crest glow, and then he understood. "The Crest of Mind and Reason…" he whispered to himself. 

"PSIMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ORACLEMON!" A shiver ran down Jun's back as he saw this new Digimon, even though he knew he was on their side. Oraclemon was, by all appearances, human. At least, from the neck down, he was human. His head was obscured by a dark obsidian helmet, yet twin spots of scarlet shone where his eyes would be. A black cape encircled his body, and he levitated in midair. His hands, also, were somewhat scary. They were long, with spindly fingers, and black, yet seemed to glow blue.

When Oraclemon spoke, his voice sounded like a million voices speaking in a chorus as one. "You have hurt people," he intoned. "Innocents. And for that you will pay the price…" He flew to the downed Scarabmon, and raised his right arm. "Fate's Touch!" And then he brought his hand down, index finger extended. When he touched Scarabmon, a brilliant black spread over the creature from the point where his finger made contact. When Scarabmon was entirely black, he started to shrivel up. With one final cry of pain, Scarabmon vanished.

"And now time for you!" Oraclemon said, turning to Alt-Koushiro, who stood in defiance.

"NO! YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME! NEVER!" Alt-Koushiro yelled, his eyes wild. 

"Fate's Touch!" The Ultimate-Stage Digimon lay his hand on Alt-Koushiro's shoulder, who slumped…and started to shine with darkness. 

"No…It can't be possible…never…" Alt-Koushiro moaned, and then he was gone.

Jun crept over to Oraclemon. "Are you…are you Psimon?" He asked, nervously.

Under the dark helmet, Oraclemon smiled. "Yes, I am, Jun. Don't be afraid." But then the smile disappeared. "Hurry! We need to get to the other kids and help them rescue our parents!"

To Be Continued…

If anyone is interested, I need a beta reader. Who would like the job?


	7. Chapter VII

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part VI(B)

By 7 of 11

Masayoshi hammered on the steel door which Kana and Aphroditemon had disappeared through, but the cold metal refused to yield. "No!" He shouted. They were being separated, and he could guess that another challenge awaited Kana on the other side of the barrier. And for all he knew, Scarabmon might have destroyed Jun and Sikamon already.

"Mud Slinger!" Marshmon whirled around, lobbing a glob of dirt at the hovering BlackRosemon. It hit her in the face, splattering over her body. The dark brown was almost invisible against the dark color of her petals.

An expression of disgust on her face, BlackRosemon wiped the mud off. "Oh, you'll pay for that one, little Digimon. Blossomarang!" She tossed a spinning flower at the smaller Digimon. He jumped into the air, and barely missed getting sliced in two by the weapon. But when Marshmon thought he was safe, the disc switched directions, shooting straight at Marshmon's retreating back. It slammed into him, exploding and pitching him forward. He hit the floor, bounced off his head, and then skidded to a stop, unmoving. 

"No! Marshmon!" Masa rushed to his friend. As he stroked his partner's bruised head caringly, he didn't notice Alt-Mimi's cold eyes affixed onto his back. She pointed lazily, and BlackRosemon moved to attack.

"Petal Blast!" The attack hit the unsuspecting Masayoshi directly, picking him up and slamming him into the wall.

Marshmon, still a bit dizzy, yet protected from the blow, stood up. "How can you do that?" He shouted. "Masayoshi is your son!" 

Alt-Mimi chuckled coldly. "My son? MY son? He is no more my son than a random child in your world is is. His mother is the pathetic weakling that we have captured, not me."

Marshmon felt a strange tingling in his paws. "Oh, you'll pay for everything, Mimi. You will pay!" He started to glow. "Marshmon digivolve to…KELPMON!" Marshmon's new form looked somewhat like a little sea otter. However, his fur, instead of the normal brown, was a dark green. Also, he had big leaves of kelp where his flippers should be. 

Kelpmon looked angrily at BlackRosemon. "Both of you are sickening…and for that you must be stopped. TSUNAMI!" He leapt into the air, and started rotating around and around. A large column of water appeared where he was spinning. Without warning, he paused and flipped, giving the waterspout a good 'THWACK' with his broad tail. A gigantic jet spewed at the duo, drenching them solidly. 

"Heh heh heh heh…" BlackRosemon appeared through the mist and drove her foot into Kelpmon's chest, sending him backwards. "You idiot, don't you know that giving a plant water makes it more healthy? Petal Blast!" She attacked, and Kelpmon cried out in a shout of pure agony.

"You know, you should just give up! It's obvious you can't win, and giving yourself up would ensure you a quick and painless…well, mostly painless execution." Alt-Mimi's dark eyes flashed red in the dim light.

Masa picked himself off the floor. "Never!" he yelled forcefully, and both Alt-Mimi and   
BlackRosemon turned to him in surprise. 

BlackRosemon flew to him. "What did you say?" she snarled.

"I said, we will never surrender! Not to the likes of you! Because if we give up, you will hurt more innocent people! And we won't ever let that happen, we WILL beat you!" He began to raise his fist for emphasis, but he stopped as a brilliant crimson glow came from his chest. His Crest, the Crest of Spirit, was shining brightly. 

"Kelpmon Digivolve to…VINMON!" The fully evolved form of Marshmon was a human shape Digimon. Sharing the same greenish color of his earlier Digivolutions, he sprouted long, prehensile vines where his hands should be. An orange streak ran down his entire back, and a small dorsal fin projected from his spine. Vinmon prepared for battle. "Now the odds are even!" he yelled.

Using his vines as a springboard, Vinmon leapt into the air, rebounding off a wall and coming to rest right behind his opponents, who were confused for a brief second as to where he had gone. But that second was enough. "Chloro Blast!" A bomb of verdant energy erupted in-between the two, throwing them in opposite directions. 

BlackRosemon spun in midair. "Nice try, but not good enough! Blossomarang!" 

"Vine Lash!" Vinmon met her attack, and the resulting blast knocked them both back. 

The battle would have been a fair match, if it weren't for one thing. Alt-Mimi reached into her purse and pulled out a little gadget with a large red button on it. "Take this!" She pressed it, and suddenly, a section of the wall paneling slid open, revealing a hidden turret, which rotated to track Vinmon, and spat energy, the red laser hitting the Ultimate-Stage Digimon. He fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Time's Scepter!" A beam of blue light smashed into the laser turret. Gouts of fire spewed from it and it exploded. Alt-Mimi turned to see Jun and Oraclemon. 

"What?" she hissed. "No, this isn't possible!" 

Vinmon got up. He smiled at Oraclemon, recognizing Sikamon. "What do you think? Should we defeat them together?"

The newcomer nodded. "I think that would be a good idea." He raised his hand, and a rod of glowing azure power appeared. 

Vinmon summoned his bomb from nothingness, and then threw it. "Chloro Blast!"

"Time's Scepter!" Oraclemon's attack joined Vinmon's, and they both slammed into BlackRosemon. Uttering a last squeal of pain, she disintegrated into Digi-dust.

Alt-Mimi looked worried. "Get away from me! Don't come any nearer!" She held up her hands in protest.

"Vine Lash!" Vinmon whipped his hand around, and the vine caught Alt-Mimi around the neck, constricting. He lifted her up into the air. She tried to get free, but it was of no use. Eventually, she fell silent and went limp. Vinmon discarded her body, tossing it against a wall.

Tears trickled down Masayoshi's face. "She was my mommy…you killed my mommy!" he sobbed, turning away from Vinmon. 

He went over to his crying partner. "Believe me, Masayoshi…I didn't want to. But whatever she was, just know that she was NOT your mom. Your mother is a better person than she was…"

The sounds of battle coming from beyond the steel door cut him off. "What is that?" Jun yelped. 

"It's Kana and Aphroditemon…" Vinmon said grimly.

To be continued…


	8. Chapter VIII

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part VI(C)

By 7 of 11

Kana watched as Aphroditemon brought her silver staff down in a blow to DarkAngemon's head. He brought his ebony rod up to counter, and kicked his daughter in the stomach, sending her flying. She then turned to her own father, Takeru…or as he was now calling himself, Shade. "Why won't you listen to me? You are my Daddy!" she shouted.

"I know not who thee are, child." Takeru/Shade shook his head. "I advise thee to stop trying my patience. Give thyself up willingly and thee shalt not be harmed."

"No!" Kana rushed at the armored figure, but this time he was ready. He met her in a tackle, throwing his spiked shoulder into the hit. She felt the steel dig into her skin, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Aphroditemon swung another strike at DarkAngemon, but he ducked under her silver weapon. "I don't have time for this…" she muttered, and her staff shone a bright red. "Love Tap!" The scarlet blast sent DarkAngemon sprawling, but he soon was back on his feet. 

It was DarkAngemon's turn to attack. "Dark Shaft!" The rod he held in his hands seemed to absorb all of the light in the room. He drove the staff into her stomach, where it made contact a huge burst of ebony power hurled the angel into a wall. 

"Love Tap!" Aphroditemon released another attack in the hope that she could wear him down. Even if he WAS her father, he didn't seem inclined to show her any mercy, so she figured she should act accordingly. She came at the stunned DarkAngemon and drew back her hand, bringing it forward in a slap, which shot him to the floor like a bullet shot from a gun, to Shade's side.

Shade, seeing this, growled a curse at DarkAngemon, and reached under his long, flowing cloak to procure a Digivice. "Thee can do this, show thy daughter who is her master!"

DarkAngemon hissed with power. "Yesssss…" He began to change. "DarkAngemon Digivolve to…LUCIFIMON!"

Kana gasped when she saw this fully-digivolved Dark Digimon. He was a dark crimson, the color of blood. Two horns sprouted from the sides of his head, and his mouth was turned down in a perpetual grimace. A tail ending in a sharp barb sprouted, and his leathery bat like wings split in two. A long, evil looking whip appeared in one of his hands, and in the other he gained a wicked pitchfork.

"Death's Whip!" Lucifimon growled, and brought his lash around at Aphroditemon, who shrieked as it caught her on the side of her face. 

Kana huddled closer to a wall as she watched, helplessly, as Lucifimon thrashed her partner in the air above. Several 'Death's Whip's later, Aphroditemon was severely bleeding, and looked as if she was not going to survive for much longer.

Lucifimon raised his pitchfork above his head, and it crackled as bolts of energy struck it, causing it to shimmer brightly. "PITCHFORK BEAM!" He brought it down. Power flowed from the smaller prongs on the side to the large central one. A gigantic beam shot out, knocking Aphroditemon out cold. She fell to the ground.

Kana ran to her partner, ignoring the throbbing pains caused from Shade's bladed armor. "Aphroditemon! Are you all right?" she held her friend, laying Aphroditemon's bloodied face in her lap. Whip welts marred her beautiful visage, and Lucifimon's most recent attack had left severe burn marks on her previously immaculate white clothing. She started to cry. "Hang in there, Aphroditemon, we aren't beaten yet." She brought her voice to the barest shreds of a whisper. "I love you, and I believe in you…I know you can do it!" a tear fell from her eye to Aphroditemon's face, and then something magical happened. 

Shining a perfect white, the color of Aphroditemon's robes, Kana's Crest of Faith lifted itself from under her shirt and levitated in midair. And then, in Kana's lap, Aphroditemon opened her eyes, fire in her sapphire irises. 

"APHRODITEMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ARCHAPHRODITEMON!" The young angel flew into the air, shimmering brightly. She was clad in brilliant platinum armor, and her wings glimmered with a silver coating. Her staff grew longer, and a cross appeared at the top, the emblem of the Crest of Faith inlaid at the center. Four more pairs of silver wings sprouted from her back. 

ArchAphroditemon looked at the horrorstruck duo. "Splitting of the Seas!" She stood on the floor, feet placed about shoulder-width apart. Both hands on her staff, she gently put it down, the cross facing Lucifimon. As soon as the bottom made contact with the tiled floor, a huge burst of energy tore up the ground as it rushed to the Dark Digimon. When it hit him, he was briefly immobilized in a bubble of light.

ArchAphroditemon hefted her silver staff into her arms again, pointing it at Lucifimon like a gun. It started to glow white. "Love's Arrow!" A beam, emitting a gentle hum, slowly made contact with Lucifimon, and he began to change. He returned to a normal angel—He was back to being Angemon.

"What?" Shade looked around in terror. "No! Thou cannot defeat me! For I am Shade! All who hear my name shalt tremble in fear! Thy tricks will not work on me!"

The steel door that had covered the entrance where Kana and Aphroditemon had entered the room suddenly burst open, clattering down the hall with mighty bangs. "Kana!" Both Jun and Masayoshi yelled, running through the clear entryway. "Are you…" Jun stopped as he saw ArchAphroditemon and the defeated Angemon. "I guess you are okay…" But then he noticed Shade. "Hey! You're the guy who got our parents!"

Masayoshi froze as he saw Shade's real identity. "…And," he said, restraining Jun. "It's Takeru…"

Light suddenly spouted from Masa's Crest into Shade/Takeru's body. "What?" He gasped. "What's going on?"

Jun looked down in amazement as yellow light poured into Shade/Takeru from his Crest. "This is fascinating…" 

And finally, Kana's own Crest activated, bathing her father in brilliant white light. When the clash of colors faded, Shade was lying on the ground, breathing weakly. "Huh? Where am I?" he asked, confused.

Kana immediately went to him. "D…D…Daddy?" she asked, and gasped when he smiled back at her.

"Kana? What happened? Last thing I remember…we were being attacked by someone…but…who?" And then it all came back to Takeru. He fell to the ground, shivering. "I'm so, so, sorry…I didn't mean any of it…Kana, can you possibly forgive me?"

She nodded. "I can, Dad, but right now, we need to save Mom and the others! Quickly, before something terrible happens to them!"

The guard paced in front of the cells. One of the Digidestined would have to be executed, to show them that the Alt-Destined were serious, but who? He smiled as he got an idea. Pulling out a gun, he pointed to one of his fellow guards, who entered the cage, unafraid of retaliation. The plasma binders they had placed on all of the Digidestined and the Digimon worked wonders, after all. As the guard brought the Digidestined out and forced him to his knees, the first one smiled. _This should be a good lesson_, he thought, as he put the gun to Koushiro's head.

To Be Continued…


	9. Chapter IX

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part VII

By 7 of 11

The guard snapped to attention as he noticed the armor-clad figure walking down the newly converted prison corridor, pushing three children in front of him. Their hands were bound behind their backs, and they obviously were trying to put up a charade of bravery.

"Yes, Master Shade?" he inquired of his superior. 

Shade responded by slamming a spiked gauntlet into the guard's temple. He dropped without a sound, shuddered slightly, and then lay still, blood streaming from his nostrils.

He leaned in close to the children. "Remember, Kana, Masayoshi, Jun, act afraid of me. And look like you are hurt, or injured, or…something. We still need to fool the warden in there."

"Right, Dad." The girl nodded. "We can do this, it's not like…well, we ARE just kids, but we have been through a lot."

Although his face was hidden under his helmet—which sported several new scratches—the children could almost see him smiling. "I know. I have faith in you guys!"

Mimi looked through the bars that were penning the Digidestined into the cell, mortified. The prison guard was planning on executing Koushiro! And none of them could do a single thing about it. She tried one more time to break the plasma bindings on her hand, but the electrical current would not budge, and gave her a painful shock in reward for her efforts. And as another side effect, it reduced all the Digimon to their In-Training stage; none of them was strong enough to break through the walls.

She turned around to where Sora was trying to console Koushiro's wife, Mata. The latter was looking pale and gaunt, as if she still believed that this was just a bad dream. And then the door clicked, and opened.

Mimi felt a surge of hope as she saw Jun Ishida, and her own son Masayoshi walk through the door, followed by Takeru and Hikari's daughter Kana. Maybe they had come to rescue them! But then her heart sank as she realized that the children had obviously been captured as well. And herding them into the jail was the same horrifying figure that had taken the Digidestined and their Digimon earlier, without even touching them! This was it; their last hope was gone.

"Yes, Master Shade?" The guard said, pushing the pistol up against the base of Koushiro's skull. 

The man—Shade, that was it—pushed the children to their knees; and Mimi could tell that they were terrified of him. "I have captured these brats trying to infiltrate the building. Lock them up." 

The guard nodded. "Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Shade paused as if to think. "Yes. You can die." 

He turned to the side. A shout came from behind him. "Hand of Fate! HYA!" The red and white beam cut through the air, smashing into the warden and throwing him back into the wall. Mimi saw his silhouette, and then he was gone, completely vaporized.

Shade reached up and took off his helmet, and shook his blond hair. To Mimi's left, Hikari cried out in joy. It was Takeru. "Takeru!" she shouted. 

As the children stood up and helped Koushiro, who was looking quite relieved, to his feet, Takeru removed his gauntlets and opened the gate to the cell. He kissed Hikari warmly. "Oh…Hikari, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing!" 

"We understand, Takeru. You weren't in control of your actions," Yamato said. He held up his hands. "And can you…you know, deactivate these bindings?" Takeru waved his hand in midair and the electric flow stopped. "Thanks! And cool outfit." He added, glancing at Takeru's armor.

Three figures walked through the door behind Shade. "Who are you?" Tokomon asked. 

"Don't you recognize me, Dad? My Champion stage is Aphroditemon." ArchAphroditemon laughed.

"And I was Marshmon!" Vinmon said.

"I used to be Sikamon, but we all Digivolved to our Ultimate stages." Oraclemon added in his deep voice. 

Shade cleared his throat. "The minute I deactivated your plasma bindings, an alarm was sent to the Headquarters. We need to get out of here, and I mean FAST!"

Taichi nodded, once again taking his place leading the team. "Right! Let's get out of here!" He ran through the door, and stopped abruptly as he encountered a corridor that split into four different branches. "What? Who designs these airports? We were knocked out when we came here, so we don't know the way…"

Alt-Yamato pointed down one hallway. "That's the way out." He said. Alt-Yamato began to walk down the corridor, but he stopped in his tracks. "This isn't good…," he said.

"What?" Jyou asked, looking over the Alternate's shoulder. "Uh-oh…" he muttered, seeing what had caused Alt-Yamato's worries. A squad of Robomon troops was marching down that hallway, guns raised. 

"Quickly! This way!" Kana shouted, running down an adjacent branch of the corridor. 

Hikari chased after her daughter. "Kana! Wait!" she called, and everyone followed the two women.

The escapees turned a corner—only to stop as a heavy iron doorway barred their path. "It's a dead end!" Mata said. 

"No, really?" Alt-Yamato retorted. His forehead furrowed in deep thought. "If I'm right, what's behind this door could actually help us undo all that the Alt-Destined have done here…first we have to get in, though." He walked over to the code panel mounted on the wall, and pressed a sequence of buttons. Another heavy barricade crashed down, and the corridor went red. 

Through the ringing in his ears, Koushiro dimly heard Alt-Yamato say. "They changed the codes!"

"I can figure it out…" the computer expert said. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small palmtop computer. He inserted one end of it into a little socket on the wall. Mumbling some techno-babble, which apparently only Mata and Jun understood, Koushiro tapped several buttons, and the doors slid open with a wheezing sound. 

"Way to go, Koushiro!" Sora shouted. All of the Digidestined could feel the mood hanging over them. It was as if they were back in the Digiworld. The group entered the chamber beyond, and Mata closed the door. 

It was a bare, circular chamber, with a small pedestal in the middle—much like the arena where Masayoshi and Vinmon had dueled Alt-Mimi and BlackRosemon. However, on this platform, there was only a small device. It looked like a Digivice, except it was a bit larger, and more round then rectangular. Also, it had several angular protrusions from the center. "What's this?" asked Masayoshi.

Alt-Yamato picked the device up. "This is what allowed us to get from our world to this one. Our Koushiro," Alt-Yamato saw Jun wince. "could probably explain it in more detail, but somehow these alter the space-time fabric of the universes, creating warps that transport you between the different realities."

"So how can that help us?" Taichi wanted to know.

Slowly, as if speaking to a child, Alt-Yamato outlined the beginning of his plan. "Like I said, these warp the space and _time_ continuum. We use them for travel through space, but…"

"…if we alter them, we could send ourselves back in time and defeat the Alt-Destined before they can do any damage here!" finished Kana. Alt-Yamato nodded.

"And we have two of the most brilliant scientists in the world right here." Jyou said. Everyone turned to look at Koushiro and Mata, who were now a bright magenta.

Koushiro looked at the object in Alt-Yamato's hand. "Well, uh, I suppose that we could try to reconfigure it…Mata?" His wife nodded, and took it from Alt-Yamato. The two of them went over to a corner to try and tinker with it.

The door suddenly rang again. "What?" Hikari asked, whirling around. 

"It's the Robomon…" Takeru answered grimly, wiping sweat from his blond hair. "They're trying to break in." The door began to glow red as energy was poured into it from the other side.

"Mata, Koushiro, we could use it now!" Mimi hissed. 

Mata stood up. "We think we've gotten it, but…"

"But what?" Taichi asked, throwing nervous glances at the now-golden door.

"If we made the slightest miscalculation, there is a possibility that instead of opening a warp, we could destroy both universes!" Koushiro explained.

Yamato shook his head. "We've got to chance it. Let's see what it's got, Koushiro!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" 

"Yes! Push the button!" Koromon yelled. "We don't have much time!"

"Well…"

Jyou looked at the white-hot door. "PUSH THE STUPID BUTTON, NOW!!!" he roared. 

At that second, the door burst open. "Quantum Beam!" intoned the robots. A burst of blue light spat from the leader's laser rifle, but that was overwhelmed by the luminescence that came from the dimensional gateway device. A bright white light enveloped all the Digidestined and the Digimon…

To Be Continued…


	10. Chapter X

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part VIII 

By 7 of 11

Jun Ishida felt the world around him dissolve in a flash of bright white light. And then he was dumped unceremoniously onto soft grass, finding himself outside once more. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the stars exploding in his vision. This had NOT been a good day…

"Where are we?" he heard through the ringing in his ears. It sounded like his Aunt Hikari, but considering how messed up his senses were, it could have very well been someone totally different—maybe it had been HIM who had said it. 

Someone else spoke—as his sight cleared, he recognized it as Mata Izumi. "I don't think it is as much a question of where…as it is a question of when." She stood up, steadying herself against a large rock, and continued. "I mean, if Koushiro and myself were correct in our calculations, then the device should have thrown us through time…but when?"

Alt-Yamato Ishida propped himself up with his iron spear. Quite obviously, he had done the dimensional shift before, as he didn't look as queasy as many of the others. "I recognize this place…," he said. "All of us, the Alt-Destined…this is where we first arrived in this world…"

Seemingly in response to his words, an azure lightning bolt struck the ground not ten meters from where they were all lying flat. Every single one of them leapt into the air, startled, their nausea momentarily forgotten. "What was that?" Vinmon hissed to the group.

And then they heard a voice. It was Taichi's, but not Taichi's…they looked at the area where the electrical discharge had struck, expecting to see charred trees and the like, but instead, they looked into a mirror. It was the Alt-Destined. "Who are you?" Alt-Taichi spat out, but he looked as if he knew the answer already.

The two groups stared at each other for a long second, until Oraclemon chose to break the stunned silence. He leveled his long, spindly, arm at the Alt-Destined. "Time's Scepter!" The beam of temporal power erupted from his hand, and most of the counterparts scattered. But not all of them.

"Agumon warp digivolve to…TERRORGREYMON!" WarGreymon's Alternate form looked much like the original one, however, his armor was made entirely of bones and skulls. Four wicked sickle-like claws extended from his armored gauntlets. TerrorGreymon flew up into the air, and knocked the Time's Scepter away.

Inspired by TerrorGreymon, the other Alternates stopped their flight and turned to do battle. Knowing that this was going to be the fight of their lives, the Digidestined prepared to fight. (Author's Note: I'm not going to write all of the Digivolutions, that would take WAY too long.) And chaos ensued. 

Sparks flew as Koushiro Izumi ducked under his counterpart's deadly blade, which struck a rock. How was he supposed to win this fight? He was a physicist, a teacher, for crying out loud!

Alt-Koushiro stumbled forward as Mata ran into him, throwing her small body into the attack. Seizing his chance, Koushiro sprang upwards, head-butting the Alternate version of himself in the stomach. Alt-Koushiro grunted and doubled over in pain. Even in pain he could hurt his opponent, however. Koushiro felt the steel edge cut into his side as he rolled away. A superficial wound, perhaps, but it was painful. 

In the skies above, the mighty Scarabmon grappled with MegaKabuterimon. The two insectoid Digimon were evenly matched. "TETRA SHOCKER!" The former bellowed, and a burst of electricity threw MegaKabuterimon to the ground. 

"Buzz Blade!" Triple saw-blades whistled through the air, and sliced deep gashes in Scarabmon's carapace. The good IronGarurumon tucked himself into a ball, and started to gather speed, flying to the wounded beetle. But he was not to reach it. The IronGarurumon of the past tackled him, and the multi-ton Digimon fell to the ground together.

MetalGarurumon saw his two counterparts locked in combat, and he paused from fighting, confused. He knew had had to help them, but which was his ally? If he picked wrong, he would unintentionally help the Alternates, thereby dooming his world. The Mega Digimon decided to chance it, and locked on to the one who looked as if he were winning. Light burst from his mighty jaws, and a wave of power shot towards his target. "Metal Wolf Claw!"

Sora Takenouchi drew her hand back, and slapped Alt-Sora across the face as hard as she could. The counterpart reeled backwards, but rebounded, backhanding Real-Sora in retaliation. 

That might have had continued, had Yamato, Sora's husband, not intervened. She saw a green-shirted blur flash by, and Yamato drove his powerful arm into Alt-Sora's neck. Out of control, she tumbled across the ground, tripped over a stone, and fell. The back of her head made contact with a stone, and there was a sickening CRACK. 

"Oh my god…" Sora fell to her knees, resisting the urge to retch, as red liquid spread out over the ground from her counterpart's skull. She felt a comforting arm around her, and looked up to see her husband smiling down at her, although the grin seemed forced. 

"Don't worry," he said. "She was evil, nothing like you. She deserved her fate…"

He never finished that sentence. Alt-Jyou appeared from seemingly nowhere, and drove a booted foot into Yamato's stomach. The blond-haired man doubled over in pain. Alt-Jyou smiled viciously and unsheathed his gleaming sword. "Victory!" he snarled.

"Don't count on it…" came a voice from behind him. His sword flew out of his hands and into the air, where it was caught by Alt-Jyou's realworld counterpart, who had disarmed him with a swift kick. Before Alt-Jyou could even turn, Jyou had rammed the blade through his body, the gleaming tip coming out of his chest. Crimson spread out from the point of entry like ink over a blotter.

Angewomon and her mate, Angemon, circled around the powerful Deviwomon, who sneered at them. "Oh, you think you're so powerful…I'll show you what TRUE power is! Night's Shadow!" Blackness started to overpower everyone fighting, but for the holy pair, this just intensified their resolve to win. 

"Love's Arrow!" A blazing ray of light cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter, slamming into Deviwomon's back. Shining like a flame, ArchAphroditemon held her staff at the ready. "Ya done, or do you want some more?"

A smile found its way to Angemon's face, and his fist glimmered brightly. He brought it up. "Hand of Fate! HYA!" 

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon released her own attack at Deviwomon.

"Splitting of the Seas!" ArchAphroditemon summoned energy and hurled it at the dark Digimon. As the three attacks joined together, their focal point Deviwomon, a gigantic explosion of power burst into existence, and when the light cleared, the Alternate was gone.

Kana Takaishi squeaked with fright as Alt-Hikari attacked her. She backed away from the swinging sword, and hit something hard and cold. Kana looked up to see Alt-Taichi smiling evilly down at her. She screamed, and bolted forwards, through Alt-Hikari's legs, trying to get away from the leader of the Alt-Destined.

She risked a quick peek back at Alt-Taichi, and her heart nearly stopped. Alt-Hikari was advancing on her, saber at the ready, but that wasn't what scared her. The skull around Alt-Taichi's neck was glowing with a malevolent vermilion light. Lightning crackled in the palm of his hand. A low, guttural, sound erupted from his throat. "Thunder Strike!" 

"No!!" Masayoshi Kido jumped at Alt-Taichi, trying to knock whatever it was he was planning on doing off its mark. Electricity arced from Alt-Taichi's fingertips into the air, and Kana braced herself for its shock, but it never reached her. Masayoshi had done just enough, and now Alt-Hikari was haloed in the burst of energy, electricity running up and down her body, a shocked look on her face. Flames spouted from her mouth as her voice box exploded.

If he felt any remorse for his sister's death at all, Alt-Taichi did not show it. He turned to Masayoshi, who was still hanging from his arm, and hissed, "Get off!" he brought his hand back, but armored fingers clamped around his wrist, and didn't let go.

"I wouldn't touch that boy if I were you, Alt-Taichi…" Takeru said, venom in his eyes.

"Pathetic little excuse for a human! You are almost as troublesome as our version was!" Alt-Taichi hissed.

Takeru's facial expression changed from one of hate to one of wonder. "What do you mean, your version?" He never got an answer, as Alt-Taichi flared up with power, and both Masayoshi and Takeru were hurled backwards. 

Alt-Yamato looked at Alt-Koushiro, who was looming over his counterpart and Mata, his weapon poised to strike. The Koushiro from this world was holding his side like he had been wounded. But what Alt-Koushiro was about to do was much worse than a little slash…he couldn't let that happen. Shouting a war cry, Alt-Yamato leapt into the air. He planted his feet on Alt-Koushiro's back, virtually walking up him, and then drove his heel into the smaller man's temple. He dropped without a sound.

"UGH!" Alt-Yamato grunted as he was thrown to the ground. He tucked into a somersault and rolled to his feet. And he saw himself. This was his past version…and this was getting very confusing.

He swiped at Alt-Alt-Yamato's throat, but the other man parried it. Blow after blow, no matter the skill level, it invariably was deflected. It was almost exactly like fighting himself—which, Alt-Yamato realized, it was. 

"Take that!" Sora came from behind Alt-Alt-Yamato and demonstrated why she was a professional soccer player, kicking the Alternate where it hurts. He doubled over in pain, clutching the affected area. Alt-Yamato brought his sword back like a baseball bat, and swung, slicing the Alternate's head clean off. As soon as he had done this, however, he seemed to shudder and collapsed. "What's wrong, Alt-Yamato?" Sora asked, confused.

Lillymon and BlackRosemon went head to head. "Flower Cannon!" Lillymon exclaimed, the blossom in her hands opening to reveal a gun barrel. 

Her counterpart flew up in the very same manner. "Blossomarang!" She tossed three spinning flowers at Lillymon. The first two intersected with the verdant blast of the Flower Cannon, and detonated harmlessly, but the third got through. Lillymon was hurled to the ground.

Mimi looked in horror at her counterpart's smirking face. It was her own, except evil, distorted to make her fair features ugly…and she had bad fashion sense, too. Then she knew what to do—without their Digidestined, the chosen Digimon die. "Lillymon!" she hollered, pointing at Alt-Mimi. "Go for her!"

The flower Digimon nodded, and took to the sky. "Flower Cannon!" Alt-Mimi just had time to shriek in fear before the explosion caught her. BlackRosemon fell to the ground, and disintegrated. 

WarGreymon, seeing this, looked at the fearsome TerrorGreymon. "Looks like its just you now…" he growled. "Terra Force!" the fireball rocketed through the air, but TerrorGreymon was ready.

"Terror Firma!" A ball, much like the Terra Force, but this one a dark black, coalesced from the ether. The two attacks hit each other, and melded, culminating in a blast that rocked the entire forest. Both combatants were hurled into the air. TerrorGreymon looked at all of the Digidestined and Digimon now opposing him. "Uh, boss?" he asked of Alt-Taichi. "I think its time for us to leave…"

"Correction, TerrorGreymon!" Alt-Taichi sneered. "It's time for ME to leave! Now, I bid you all 'adieu'!" He raised his hand, and a portal appeared. Laughing once more, he jumped into it, and vanished.

"What? Boss? BOSS!" TerrorGreymon shouted, panicking. "Don't leave me here, Boss!"

Vinmon looked at the Alternate Digimon. "Well, he abandoned you. That'll be a GREAT last memory…" he said dryly.

By this time, WarGreymon had re-entered the fight. He sped towards his counterpart, claw raised high. "MEGA CLAW!" the Mega-stage Digimon bellowed, and he drove the gleaming claw straight into TerrorGreymon's chest. The evil Digimon disintegrated into digital dust around his arm. 

Taichi looked at the portal, which was still open. Through it, the outline of a city could be seen—it was Odaiba, yet it was different. The sky was a dark, murky brown, and everything else looked just like a wasteland.

"That's the Alternate World…" Alt-Yamato whispered, coming up from behind Taichi. "If we are going to defeat Taichi's forces once and for all, we need to go there…"

Masayoshi shrugged. "Then let's do it!" There were murmurs of agreement. 

Taichi readied himself for the disorienting journey once more. "It's time to go into the looking glass…"

To Be Continued…


	11. Chapter XI

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part IX

By 7 of 11

_Kana…wake up, child. Get up, Kana! Kana! Kana!_

"Kana? Kana, are you all right?" Kana Takaishi awoke to her mother and father standing over her, concerned looks on their faces.

"I'm fine…" The eleven-year-old girl pushed herself to a sitting position. She looked around the area where she, her parents, and the rest of their group were. It looked almost like downtown Odaiba, where she had lived all of her life. But there was something different about it. It was totally deserted, not even a lonesome pigeon flying around. And then she looked up at the sky, and shrieked. 

The sky was a reddish-brown, mudlike color. A heavy cloud cover enveloped most of the city, which she saw was filled with half-destroyed buildings. Ominous swirls in the clouds overhead looked like vortices about to suck them in, and lightning bolts cracked the sky every few seconds. "What is this place?" she managed to say.

Alt-Yamato turned to her. "This is my world." He said, his lips pressed together tightly in a grim parody of a smile.

Next to Kana, Masayoshi was incredulous. "You LIVE here? How is that possible? I mean…well, just look at it!"

"Yes, I live here. There are not many living things left…but the Digidestined from this world, including myself, live in relative comfort compared to what the small numbers of survivors must cope with." Alt-Yamato was quite frank with the young boy, his words lacking the soft touch that many of his counterparts in the 'Real' universe possessed. 

Sora Ishida suddenly raised her hand and pointed. "What is THAT?" The red-haired woman was referring to a gigantic tower that stabbed into the clouds like a knife. The citadel would have easily been one of the tallest buildings in the other universe had it been constructed there. An ominous black fog surrounded it, looking to be almost solid.

"That is our goal. Taichi's palace." Alt-Yamato ran his finger over the blade of his sword, creating a small cut, but he ignored it.

Koushiro Izumi turned to his Digimon partner. "We can get there without a problem! MegaKabuterimon?"

"Right!" The gigantic beetle hissed. "Everyone get on!"

Alt-Yamato shook his head. "No, that won't work. In that fog, Taichi has certain…enchantments…that prevent any flying thing from crossing the barrier. We need to get there the old fashioned way…on foot."

Mata Izumi started to think. "Really? I wonder how he would do that…preventing only flying things from crossing fog while allowing others to pass through unharmed…"

"It doesn't have to be logical or rational, Mata. It's sorcery." Jyou Kido rebuked. "There isn't anything that you can do to understand it."

Taichi started to walk off in the direction of the tower. "Standing here talking is just a waste of time…let's go!"

"Taichi, maybe you should let Alt-Yamato go first…after all, I would guess he knows this city a lot better than you do." Hikari pointed out.

"Oh. Right, Alt-Yamato, you lead the way!"

Takeru stepped into stride besides his older brother's mirror self. "So maybe you can tell us exactly how this world became to be this way? And also, I noticed that I didn't seem to have a counterpart among the Alt-Destined. Why is that?" At this, Alt-Yamato visibly shuddered. "I mean, if you don't want to tell us, that's perfectly fine…"

Alt-Yamato held up a hand. "No, it's okay…" He sighed. "Where shall I begin? Well, first of all, it appears that our timelines were exactly the same for a while."

"Really? Why are they so different then?" Jun inquired, curious as always.

The Alternate took several deep breaths. "Apparently, they diverged around the period of time where VenomMyotismon appeared. Taichi chose to ignore the prophecy unearthed by Gennai, labeling those sorts of things as 'fake'. But he realized, as you all did, that Myotismon's new form was past anything that they had encountered before. So, in order to defeat him, a new stage of Digivolution had to be discovered."

"We did that too," Mimi said slowly. "We had Agumon and Gabumon warp to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, so how does this end up as different?"

Alt-Yamato looked annoyed. "Wait, I'm not finished! Taichi figured that the only way to get a new Digivolution was to do what he did when Greymon digivolved to SkullGreymon. He realized that the new form would be corrupt, but he surmised that 'dark' Digimon were more powerful than 'light' ones. To follow through with this, he didn't tell any of us of his plan at the time, but told us to go out and fight VenomMyotismon. We did as he told us to, but all of our Digimon were trounced. While VenomMyotismon was destroying us at leisure, Taichi was stuffing Agumon full of food." WarGreymon flinched as he remembered that experience. "Then, he deliberately ran into Myotismon's path. Seeing that his partner was in danger, Agumon warped, but not to WarGreymon, as he did here. He became TerrorGreymon."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Masayoshi couldn't suppress a slight chuckle. "So it was a warped warp!" At the glares from all the adults, he quieted back down again. "Sorry."

"…Anyway, TerrorGreymon was able to defeat VenomMyotismon single-handedly. Thereby being the only Mega in the group, and the strongest, Taichi started to become obsessed with accumulating more power. None of us noticed it as we went back to the Digiworld, but when we returned to our world again after easily defeating the Dark Masters, it had corrupted us as well." Alt-Yamato closed his eyes, gathering strength as the group walked on, and then resumed his tale. "No longer believing that prophecies and the like were rubbish, Taichi spent hours at a time researching ancient myths, looking for the ultimate power. Before he could find it, however, Gennai contacted him once again, telling him about a new evil that had invaded the real world, known as Loenamon. Even TerrorGreymon lost to this new foe, but in the message, Gennai explained how to get the rest of us to all go Mega as well. So we warped, and became MetalGarurumon, BlackRosemon, Deviwomon, Scarabmon, IronZudomon, and Vulturemon."

"But what about me?" Angemon asked of Alt-Yamato. "How come there was not a twisted version of me?"

Alt-Yamato raised a trembling hand to his face, and Hikari could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes for a second. "I'll get to that in a moment. After we defeated Loenamon in a fierce battle, Taichi felt we had enough power to conquer a large section of Japan-—which we accomplished easily. Powerful armies tried to drive us away, but we in effect became a small dictatorship. And then Taichi found what he had been looking for, an ancient witchcraft which would give the one who casted it incredible powers. Unfortunately, one of the primary ingredients was human blood. The more blood in the concoction, the more powers would be transferred. Obsessed with his quest, Taichi ordered that we execute 10,000 people in Odaiba, and collect their blood. We were so far gone, that we agreed to it. All except my brother. You see, Takeru was the only one who hadn't been corrupted by Taichi. And he refused to take part in the executions, actually leaving our group organizing a small resistance movement against us. Impressive, sure, but he was no match for us. We utterly smashed his band of rebels and captured Takeru. Then…then…I was the one to behead him and thrust it upon a spike…I MURDERED him!" Alt-Yamato broke down into tears.

Although sickened by this, Kana felt sorry for Alt-Yamato, as did everyone else. But it was she that went over to the sobbing man and put a small arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm sure he forgives you know that you saw the evil and are trying to fight against it…"

Whether it was because of her words or his own will, Kana didn't know, but Alt-Yamato gathered strength and continued, occasionally breaking into a small sob, but recovering quickly. "After Takeru's death, there was no one to stop us. We carried out Taichi's orders, and he gained almost infinite powers. But he still wanted more, and we killed even more to sate his bloodlust. Then, using his sorcery, we conquered the planet. But that was not enough for him. He needed more power, to rule over everything. It was then that Koushiro discovered the existence of another plane of reality—namely, yours. Faced with the prospect of another dimension to conquer, Taichi jumped at the chance. So we invaded."

Alt-Yamato's real world self looked around. "But if not everyone was killed for the spell, how come there is no one around here?" 

Bitterness ran rampant in Alt-Yamato's voice. "Another of the ingredients for the ultimate power spell—but this one needs a steady supply—was souls. The removal of something's soul does not kill it, but it renders them a zombie, with no self, no free will. Ever so often, Taichi would have a group of people rounded up, and then he would…eat their souls…"

The group stopped as they reached the barrier. "So what do we do?" Sora asked.

"Just walk right through…" Alt-Yamato did as he spoke, and looked back at the party from the other side. "It might help if you get a running start, but it really doesn't matter."

Hikari stepped into the fog, and her blood turned to ice. It was only a few seconds that she was in the darkness, but it seemed like an eternity. When she at last reached the other side, she was shivering. "That is NOT a pleasant experience."

"I never said it was."

Once everyone was inside the wall of shadows, Alt-Yamato pointed upwards. "Now we can fly up…we have to go to the very top."

After MegaKabuterimon had all the humans on his back, the bug leapt straight up into the air and zoomed ever higher. Carrying Vinmon and Zudomon, Garudamon and WarGreymon followed, Angemon, Angewomon, MetalGarurumon, ArchAphroditemon, Oraclemon, and Lillymon right behind.

The palace started to grow thinner, gradually tapering down. When they had been flying for what seemed like an hour, they reached the top…an immense square platform with a small dome in the middle. Taichi jumped down off of MegaKabuterimon, and slowly approached it. "What is this?"

Alt-Yamato cried out a warning, "No! Stay away!" but it was too late. The dome exploded, shockwaves buffeting the group. 

Then, through the fire, a shadowy figure could be seen walking towards them. Clearing the fire seemingly unharmed by the vicious flames lapping at his body, Alt-Taichi laughed coldly. "You pathetic little FOOLS! Now you will all die!"

To Be Continued…

It's finally getting to the good part, ain't it! Only two or three more to go!! Always Review please!


	12. Chapter XII

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror-Part X

by 7 of 11

Jagged streaks of lightning scarred the mudlike sky around the gigantic citadel that was Alt-Taichi's palace. On the peak of the monstrous tower, a group of figures stood allied against one lone adversary. And although the storm all around them was already at its peak, the deadly struggle was only beginning...

Alt-Taichi chuckled to himself as he ducked under Alt-Yamato's swinging blade. "A bit too slow there, aren't we, Yamato? I guess you've lost your touch after murdering your brother." he taunted.

The blond man's eyes filled with a frightening rage. "You bastard..."

"Oh, don't even try to pin this one on me, Yamato. Although you were very easy to control, having such a weak mind and the like, you killed him out of your own free will. Or don't you remember impaling his severed head on a spike and parading it around like some sort of barbarian?"

With an inhuman cry of rage, Alt-Yamato attacked. But there was a flash of light and he found himself being chucked back. He crashed to the concrete surface of the building, bounced once, and skidded to a halt. At this, the rest of the group chose to attack.

"Let's get him!" ArchAphroditemon raised her staff high above her head, but a strong hand grabbed it from behind and held it steady, immobilizing it.

Angemon refused to let his daughter's weapon free. "No, ArchAphroditemon. Protect Kana, she is merely a child. We'll handle this one." The holy warrior moved to join his mate, Angewomon. As Takeru and Hikari, the two former Chosen ones, now husband and wife, moved under them, the tags and Crests that they both still kept since the Digiworld began to shine brightly.

ANGEMON DIGIVOLVE TO...MAGNAANGEMON!!

"What? That's not fair!" ArchAphroditemon protested, platinum armor gleaming. "You need all the help you can get against--" she was cut off by a look from her parents.

Seeing the two angels approach, Alt-Taichi grinned. The skull brooch around his neck began to shine with an unholy light. "Darkness Fist!" came his cry, and the two seraphim were knocked out of the sky by an unseen power. His broad smirk disappeared, however, when Jyou's fist sent him reeling backwards, blood streaming from his nose. But as quickly as the crimson fluid had appeared, it vanished, and Alt-Taichi brought his palm to Jyou's chest, knocking him backwards.

Koushiro, seeing his longtime friend assaulted like this, rushed Alt-Taichi without thinking. He began to grapple with the other man, but Alt-Taichi's power was too strong, and began to overwhelm him. Beads of sweat breaking out on his face, the physics professor started to bend backwards. "Koushiro!" his wife Mata screamed, and ran over to the pair, bringing her palm around to slap Alt-Taichi--but he simply kicked Koushiro away and blocked the blow. The look of rage etched on Mata's face vanished, to be replaced by utter terror.

"Tidal Wave!" Out of no where, hundreds of liters of water blasted the woman into the air. Mata tried to right herself so she would be able to land correctly, but she failed, and smashed onto the pavement. Blood spurted into the air, and her cries of pain could be heard.

Ignoring the battle going on around him, Koushiro rushed to his wife's side. Gingerly, he lifted her head into his lap, and looked into her eyes. She was in pain, but she wasn't giving up yet. "Oh Mata…" he whispered. "You never should have gotten caught up in this."

"Koushiro," came a voice from behind him. "Let me look at her, I am a doctor after all." Reluctantly, Koushiro moved away, and let Yamato examine his wife's broken body. After a while, he spoke. "It's hard to tell without my equipment, but she should survive, if we can get her to a medical center soon."

Understanding the implications of this, Koushiro nodded. "So that means we need to beat Alt-Taichi…and quickly!"

"You go and fight, Koushiro." Yamato said. "I'll take care of Mata."

***

"Why aren't our parents letting us fight?" Jun asked from the kids' position behind a shed of some sort. "They need all the help that they can get against Alt-Taichi!"

Leaning around the corner of the building to sneak a peek at the ongoing battle, Vinmon pointed at where Alt-Taichi was beating the crap out of WarGreymon. "That's a pretty good reason right there!"

Oraclemon blinked twice, and then spoke in his hollow voice. "True, however, the three of us have each taken on supremely powerful Digimon. If we did enter the struggle, we might be able to offer much needed assistance to our side."

A shriek pierced the air and a barrage of fireballs slammed into the ground near them, courtesy of Alt-Taichi. The shed was blown to smithereens, and the three human kids were thrown into the air, but they were caught by their respective Digimon partners and brought back down to the ground. Before Alt-Taichi could do anything more, however, a combined Flower Cannon/ Horn Buster from Lillymon and MegaKabuterimon slammed into him, and he turned his attention to deal with the new threat.

Even though Alt-Taichi was no longer focusing on them, Masayoshi started to tremble. "What's going to happen to us if they can't beat him? I don't want to die!"

Kana put an arm around her friend's shoulders, and tried to comfort him. "Don't worry, they'll beat him, I know they will," she soothed. "We won't die."

A thin smile appeared on the boy's face. "Yeah, you're right. They'll win, won't they?" Kana was about to respond, but then she gasped and put her hand to her forehead. Masa looked at her, worried, and then whatever had happened to Kana affected him as well.

"Huh? What happened to you guys?" Jun asked, but then he put his own hand to his head, and fell over.

__

Children…hear me, children…You are the ones, the only people who have the power to defeat the Alt-Destined leader once and for all. Your crests are the keys to victory, but this key can only be used at a certain time, or else they are doomed to fail. When Alt-Taichi is ready to win, use your crests, and he will fall. But there is an even greater evil lurking…

Opening her eyes weakly, Kana found ArchAphroditemon looking down at her. "Kana, what happened? Are you all right?" The angel asked.

"I'm fine…but I have no idea what happened…" Kana was confused. How come she couldn't remember a single thing of that? Yet she felt like she knew it all…weird.

***

Mimi grabbed a trash can lid and started swinging it like a sword, dispersing the clouds of dark mist around her that Alt-Taichi had summoned. "Help!"

Garudamon came to her aid, flapping her gigantic wings and driving the deadly gas away from Mimi. "Wing Blade!" The avian roared, and the flame bird flew at Alt-Taichi, but he raised a barrier of water and the bird fizzled out harmlessly.

"Thunder Strike!" He raised his arm and lightning arced from his fingertips, knocking Garudamon from the sky easily. He brought his hand down and aimed at Jyou, electricity still streaming from his body. The Navy captain began to run, deadly energy hissing into the ground behind him. But then he stumbled, and it looked as if he would be shocked to death. But then a sword came into the path of the lightning and blocked the flow. Alt-Taichi, startled, barely managed to dodge the blade as Alt-Yamato re-entered the fight.

"Oh, you again!" Alt-Taichi growled. "Well, looks like I'll have to finish you once and for all..." he jerked back to dodge an angry sword swipe. Gathering energy, he rammed his hand into Alt-Yamato's midsection, and the blonde man went flying.

All Alt-Yamato saw as he tumbled head over heels was a mottled blur of colors. As he recovered his bearings, he then saw that he was falling towards the edge of the platform...he was going to fall off. He plummeted over the side--and then halted as two pairs of hands clasped his wrists tightly and didn't let him go. He looked up to see Taichi Kamiya and Sora Ishida grabbing him. "Couldn't let you fall," the man explained. "You're the only one here who knows anything about this place!"

As the pair hauled Alt-Yamato up, the rest of the Digidestined and Digimon gathered around them, ready to make one final assault on Alt-Taichi. Takeru Takaishi stood at the ready, MagnaAngemon behind him. "You can't win, Alt-Taichi. No matter what, we'll defeat you."

The Alt-Destined leader scowled. "Oh, I don't think so..." The eye sockets on the skull brooch began to shine with

a scarlet light, and Alt-Taichi gathered energy. It was not long before the entire skull appeared to be on fire. "I think I'll finish you once and for all!" Tongues of flame leapt from the bones and surrounded Alt-Taichi, forming a column of fire.

"Incineration!"

***

From behind the ruined shed, Kana peered at Alt-Taichi, who was preparing to unleash his most powerful attack on the Digidestined, to finish them off. And then she remembered the voice: _'When Alt-Taichi is ready to win, use your Crests, and he will fall'_.

Without understanding what she was doing, she removed the pendant from where it rested around her neck and lifted it into the air. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Masayoshi and Jun doing the same. And then bursts of multicolored light flashed from them, hitting ArchAphroditemon, Vinmon, and Oraclemon, giving them more power.

The young angel gasped as energy flowed through her body. She raised her staff high above her head, and began to twirl it. Clouds of white energy emanated from the spinning rod, and tendrils of Holy power struck the ground like lightning bolts.

Oraclemon traced a circle in the air with his hands, and sapphire fire formed where his fingers moved. When the circle connected with itself, it filled in with a deep blue light.

Vinmon channeled the power into his vinelike arms, and an aura of green surrounded him. Suddenly he leapt into the air, and struck the ground with his vines. A burst of verdant energy sliced through the sky at Alt-Taichi. "Hyper Slash!"

The disk of energy Oraclemon had accumulated projected into an immense beam that shot out, aiming at Alt-Taichi. "DEOSTRIKE!"

And then ArchAphroditemon attacked, the storm over her head shooting the Holy lightning at Alt-Taichi. "Holy Tempest!"

***

The three attacks hit Alt-Taichi, yet they did not seem to do anything. He merely absorbed them into his shield. But then it happened. The power influx was too much to handle, and bright light shone from the skull, forcing almost everyone to turn their faces away. The look of absolute strength on Alt-Taichi's face flickered as the skull began to crack open. Then, it shattered.

Unprotected by the skull's aura, Alt-Taichi was at the full mercy of his uncontrollable powers. Screaming in pain as the flames lapped at his body, Alt-Taichi fell to his knees. He raised his hand, pointing an accusing finger at the Digidestined, and then the flesh surrounding his finger fell off as the power ravaged his body, exposing and now attacking the bone beneath.

His face started to blister from the heat, and then his skin began to bubble, in the early stages of

liquefaction. As unbearable pain flashed in his eyes, his face melted, the skin turning to mush and dripping off. The blood released by this was immediately vaporized by the intense heat, forming scarlet clouds above the dying tyrant. What little flesh remained started to twist and blacken. And then, as he fell to his back, the flames stopped.

Alt-Yamato cautiously went over to him, thinking it might be a trap. And then he saw Alt-Taichi's chest rising and falling, despite the trauma his body had just been through. "So, you're still alive."

Weakly, Alt-Taichi attempted to raise a blackened arm, and his eyes beseeched Alt-Yamato for help. "Ungngnnnnnghhh...." he moaned.

The taller man shook his head, hatred on his face. As he raised his sword, he whispered, "And this is for my brother." He brought the weapon down, and the blade sliced through Alt-Taichi's neck, beheading him. The sorcerer finally dead, the power remaining within erupted in an explosion of darkness, consuming his body once and for all.

As Alt-Yamato stood there, sword still bearing traces of boiled blood, he felt free for the first time in his life. But that was not to last. "I see that you finally gave in to your anger and hatred. Well done, Yamato, well done indeed." A voice came from behind everybody as the children returned to their parents. Floating up from over the edge of the building was a hooded figure. "Now, you realize that Alt-Taichi was merely a puppet, someone to do my deeds for me. But he was growing dangerous, ambitious, thinking for himself. So he needed to be exterminated. Congratulations, you just helped me out very much, Digidestined!"

"Who are you?" Hikari Takaishi asked quizzically. A low chuckle came from behind the hood, and the man reached up and pulled the facial covering back, exposing his face. A gasp went up from the group.

"You!" Alt-Yamato snarled.

To Be Continued...

Don't ya guys LOVE cliffhangers? Cya around, oh yes, and always review!!


	13. Chapter XIII

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Part XI

By 7 of 11

"What are you doing here, Gennai?" Alt-Yamato's hands never left the hilt of his sword, hanging at his belt. 

Gennai chuckled, a wheezing sound. The old man looked even older now, almost 30 years after the Digidestined had seen him last. "I thought I just told you. I'm here to congratulate you, for killing Taichi." Malevolence crept into his tone, like none of them had ever heard before. He smiled. "Thanks to you, I can now invade your world and take it over much more easily."

Taichi couldn't take it anymore. "We beat Alt-Hikari, Alt-Jyou, and Alt-Sora, and then we get captured by you guys, and have to escape! So then we need to travel back in time, and fight everyone ALL OVER AGAIN! That should have been the end, but no, we had to come here to beat my counterpart. And after we kill him, you show up! I'm sick and tired of this!" He stepped forward, WarGreymon right beside him. "It's time to finish this once and for all! WarGreymon, get him!"

On Taichi's right, Yamato clenched his fist. "MetalGarurumon, you're up too!"

Alt-Yamato stuck his sword into a crack in the concrete roof of the tower. "IronGarurumon, take him out!"

The trio of Mega Digimon flew into the air in a three-pronged pincer attack. "TERRA FORCE!" WarGreymon bellowed, hoisting a huge ball of fire into the air, and hurling it at the old man.

"Lightning Slash!" IronGarurumon smacked his bladed tail against the ground, and sparks jumped at Gennai, adding to the power of the Terra Force.

Opposite of the other two Digimon, MetalGarurumon launched his own attack. Rearing back his head, light burst from his mouth. "Ice Wolf Claw!" He bellowed, spitting shards of frost at Gennai.

The three attacks came at Gennai from three sides, each looking more deadly than the next. He smirked and raised his hands. There was a flash of light around him—and then the attacks hit, but they did nothing. He stood there, an egg-shaped bubble protecting him from the tempest of flame, ice, and electricity. When the attacks had spent their energy and fizzled out, Gennai put his arms down again. "You can't beat me…learn that!"

He stroked his beard with his hand, in thought. "However…" he said. "Your Digimon are quite powerful…so I think I must get rid of them." He pointed at IronGarurumon—green light flickered, there was a thunderclap—and the Digimon was gone. Next, he turned his attention to the other Digimon. Lazily, he pointed again—the thunderclap much louder this time—and they had vanished. 

"Lillymon!" cried Mimi.

Jyou blinked twice as if he was not sure what he was seeing. "Zudomon…" he whispered.

Masayoshi collapsed, huddling his knees to his chest. "I…never got to say goodbye…"

"What did you do to them!" Takeru shouted at Gennai.

The yellow-clad man held up his hands in a gesture of dismissal. "If you believe I killed them, you are wrong…I merely sent them back to the Digital World, from which they came. I don't like killing when I don't have to."

Fire welled up in Alt-Yamato's eyes. "BULLSHIT!" He yelled. "I remember now, when Taichi used to sneak off in the Digiworld at night…we all thought he needed to be by himself. But you were really meeting with him, telling him what to do, weren't you! You told him to kill all of the evil Digimon…because they were standing in your way! And then when we got back here, you were the one who ordered us to kill everyone who opposed our rule. You say you don't like killing if you don't have a reason? Well here's your reason!" He flipped the one-fingered salute at Gennai. "Now kill me!"

Yamato turned to his counterpart, concern on his face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

Ignoring Yamato, Alt-Yamato tore open his shirt, exposing his chest. He plucked the sword from the ground and tossed it at Gennai's feet. Pointing to his heart, he glared at the other man. "Right here, Gennai. One slice right here, and its all over." Alt-Yamato said softly.

Looking with disdain at the sword at his feet, Gennai gave it a kick and it slid back to the Digidestined. "I don't need to bother with that to kill you…" he sneered. He snapped his fingers twice, and the ground beneath them began to rumble.

"What's happening?" Kana asked, fear tainting the girl's melodic voice. 

Alt-Yamato stood his ground. "Do you remember when I told you what happened to those people who had their souls ripped out of them?" He said, not moving at all.

"You don't mean…" Hikari dashed over to the side of the building and peered down. What she saw chilled her to her bones. There was a mass of brown steadily scaling the sides of the citadel, and then she heard a faint howling, like a predator seeking prey. The brown grew even higher, and she could begin to make out individual bodies. "Zombies…" she whispered.

Koushiro, also looking over the edge, did some mental calculations. "We have less than two minutes before they're here…" his face was sickly white. He began to speak to himself, holding his wife's hand. "Don't worry, Mata…we'll make it in time…and get you to a hospital."

Gennai smiled, knowing that he had the battle won already. "They won't attack me, Yamato. And you know that they won't attack you if you join me." A look of pure anticipation crossed his wizened features. "Take your place at my side, and you will be spared, and you will reap the benefits once we invade their world! Join me, and we will conquer!" In his madness, flecks of spittle flew from his mouth and landed in his beard.

"He's insane, don't listen to him, Alt-Yamato…" Sora said quickly, but apparently the offer had not touched the blonde man, who stood, in deep thought. 

And then Alt-Yamato picked his sword up from the ground, holstered it, and walked over to Gennai—and knelt at his feet.

~~~

Jyou was dimly aware of his mouth hanging open, but didn't bother to correct it. All he could see, all the others could see, was Alt-Yamato kneeling to Gennai. The other man spoke, penetrating the howl of the zombies growing ever closer. "I give you my answer, Gennai." And he stood, and turned. There was something in his hand, and Jyou recognized it from his military training, as he pointed it at the Digidestined. A bomb.

The thought that had been trying to penetrate Jyou's mental haze finally succeeded, and flickered through his mind. _Alt-Yamato is a traitor…_His mind raced, and he calculated that the only chance they would have is if Alt-Yamato was disarmed. By pure reflex, Jyou leapt into action, sprinting at Alt-Yamato. Through his adrenaline rush, everything seemed slow motion. He was 15 steps away from Alt-Yamato…13 steps…11 steps… 10…….9…….8 steps… And then he saw what was in Alt-Yamato's other hand as the shorter man continued his turn.

It looked like a Digivice, but it was flatter, and more round. There were also four spikelike protrusions from the bulge in the middle. It was the dimensional transporter.

"My answer is…HELL NO!" Alt-Yamato flicked a switch on the transporter, and the brightest light Jyou had ever seen burst from the center. It narrowed into a column that washed over all of the Digidestined, who were shielding their eyes from the energy. And even though Jyou's mind and body told him he was still running forward, he felt the unmistakable sensation of being tossed backwards. Everything around him seemed blurred, as if it was moving in fast-forward. He felt as if he weighed light as a feather. And then, the world began moving past him so fast, he saw almost nothing. 

It was then that the bomb went off. Rivaling the intensity of the transporter light, brilliant red-gold flames exploded into the air, and the gigantic tower that Alt-Taichi had made his command center split in half, with the top falling down to the streets below. Even amidst the ringing in his ears from the blast, he could still hear the thunder as entire blocks of the alternate universe's Odaiba were wiped out in milliseconds. 

Everything swirled together in white light…and he found himself placed onto a bed…the distinctive smell of a hospital wafted across his face. He heard a voice. "A hiker found all twelve of them unconscious on a hill above Odaiba. One of them was in critical condition—she's in the OR now—although all the rest of them seemed to be in pretty fair shape."

And another voice answered. "I wonder what they were doing to end up like this?"

"Who knows? I wonder if they'll remember when they wake up." The first voice again.

Unbidden, a stray thought flew through Jyou's mind. _We'll remember all right…but it's not as if they'll ever believe us…_

**__**

THE END…or is it? (Epilogue coming)

A/N: What did you guys think? PLEAAAAASE review! Oh yes, there WILL be an epilogue shortly, look for it!


	14. Epilogue-All Good Things...

Digimon: Digital Monsters

Mirror, Mirror—Epilogue

By 7 of 11

It had been 3 months since the battle for the future of both universes. And Kana remembered every single detail of the fight like it was yesterday. Even today, she still felt something eating away at her inside, which she had never gotten a chance to say farewell to her partner Digimon before all of the creatures were returned to their world.

Mata Izumi had recovered from her near-fatal injuries, and the last that she had heard, Koushiro and Mata were taking much-deserved time off from their job at Oxford University. They were somewhere tropical, somewhere remote—exactly where Kana would have liked to be that morning. But no such luck had come her way. It was Sunday morning, and the 12-year-old girl was bored out of her skull.

The phone rang, and from inside her parents' room, she heard her father's voice answer: "Takaishi residence, hello?" There was a pause, and then he spoke again. "You want Hikari? Okay, one second."

During the second pause, as her father handed off the telephone to Hikari Takaishi, his wife, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" She called to her parents, and rushed to the door.

As Takeru entered the main room in their apartment, he heard Kana gasp in fear and shock. "What? KANA!" he yelled, and sprinted to the door, but his daughter was fine. He nearly collapsed when he saw what she was looking at, however. "Kari-chan?" He managed to call.

"Yes?" Hikari hung up the phone, her conversation over, and walked to where the other two were standing. And she, too, froze at what she saw. "What does this mean?"

"It means…" Kana's voice was deadly quiet. "That he'll be back…"

Standing against the far wall of the corridor was a sword, long, sharp, and deadly. Light glinted off of the saber—Alt-Yamato's weapon.

~~~

Alt-Yamato chuckled from outside of the Odaiba apartment building. He couldn't have let the Takaishis see him, of course. It was hard enough getting out of the dimension before the blast leveled the tower. Right now, he just wanted to settle down, live a normal life.

He turned, the long black trenchcoat he had been wearing to conceal the sword blooming out slightly. Maybe he would change his name…maybe even leave the country, go to America. If he did that, then, he would need an American name. Hmm…what about Matt? That sounded like a nice American name…after all, he'd think of something. There were always possibilities.

Alt-Yamato reached into his pocket and produced a pair of sunglasses. Putting them on, he walked away from the past, the horrors, and to a new life.

Because, after all, there were always possibilities.

**__**

THE END


End file.
